Abstract
From September 1990 through December 1991 nitrous oxide flux measurements were made at 9 intertidal mud flat sites in the Scheldt Estuary. Nitrous oxide release rates were highly variable both between sites and over time at any one site. Annual nitrous oxide fluxes vary from about 10 mmol N m−2 at the tidal fresh-water end-member site to almost zero at the most saline stations. Along the estuarine gradient, annual nitrous oxide fluxes are significantly correlated with sedimentary organic carbon and nitrogen concentrations, ammonium fluxes and annual nitrogen turn-over rates, that are estimated using mass-balance considerations. Nitrous oxide fluxes seem to respond linearly to an increasing nitrogen load, with one out of each 17 000 atoms nitrogen entering estuaries being emitted as nitrous oxide.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aller, R. C., 1980. Diagenetic processes near the sediment-water interface of Long Island Sound. 1. Decomposition and nutrient element geochemistry (S,N,P). Adv. Geophys. 22: 238–350.
Bartlett, K. B. & R. C. Harris, 1993. Review and assessment of methane emissions from wetlands. Chemosphere, 126: 261–320.
Berner, R. A., 1980. Early diagenesis: A theoretical approach. Princeton University Press, Princeton: 1–241.
Billen, G., 1975. Nitrification in the Scheldt Estuary (Belgium and Netherlands). Estuar. coastal mar. Sci. 3: 79–89.
Billen, G., M. Somville, E. de Becker & P. Servais, 1985. A nitrogen budget of the Scheldt hydrographical basin. Neth. J. Sea Res. 19: 223–230.
Boderie, P. M. A., J. J. G. Zwolsman, G. T. M. van Eck & C. H. van der Weijden, 1993. Nutrient biogeochemistry in the water column (N,P,Si) and pore-water (N) of sandy sediment of the Scheldt Estuary (SW Netherlands). Neth. J. aquat. Ecol. 27: 309–318.
Bouwman, A. E., 1990, (ed.). Soils and the greenhous effect. John Wiley & Sons.
Chanton, J. P. & J. W. H. Dacey, 1991. Effects of vegetation on methane flux, reservoirs, and carbon isotopic composition. In Trace Gas Emissions by Plants, 1st edn. Academic Press, Inc: 65–92.
Cicerone, R. J., 1987. Changes in stratospheric ozone. Science 237: 35–42.
Dalsgaard, T. & F. Bak, 1992. Effect of acetylene on nitrous oxide reduction and sulfide oxidation in batch and gradient cultures of Thiobacillus denitrificans. Appl. envir. Microbiol. 58: 1601–1608.
Devol, A. H., 1991. Direct measurement of nitrogen gas fluxes from continental shelf sediments. Nature 349: 319–321.
Devol, A. H. & J. P. Christensen, 1993. Benthic fluxes and nitrogen cycling in sediments of the continental margin of the eastern North Pacific J. mar. Res. 51: 345–372.
Goossen, N. K., P. van Rijswijk & U. Brockmann, 1995. Comparison of heterotrophic bacterial production rates in early spring in the turbid estuaries of the Scheldt and the Elbe. Hydrobiologia 311 (Dev. Hydrobiol. 110): 31–42.
Iversen, N. & B. B. Jørgensen, 1993. Diffusion coefficients of sulphate and methane in marine sediments: influence of porosity. Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac. 57: 571–578.
Jensen, H. B., K. S. Jørgensen & J. Sørensen, 1984. Diurnal variation of nitrogen cycling in coastal, marine sediments. II Nitrous oxide emission. Mar. Biol. 83: 177–183.
Kemp, W. M., P. Sampou, J. Caffrey, M. Mayer, K. Henriksen & W. R. Boynton, 1990. Ammonium recycling versus denitrification in Chesapeake Bay sediments. Limnol. Oceanogr. 35: 1543–1563.
Kieskamp, W. M., L. Lohse, E. Epping & W. Helder, 1991. Seasonal variation in denitrification rates and nitrous oxide fluxes in intertidal sediments of the western Wadden Sea. Mar. Ecol. Progr. Ser. 72: 145–151.
Klump, J. V. & C. S. Martens, 1989. The seasonality of nutrient regeneration in an organic-rich coastal sediment: Kinetic modelling of changing pore-water nutrient and sulfate distributions. Limnol. Oceanogr. 34: 559–577.
Leuenberger, M. & U. Siegenthaler, 1992. Ice-age atmospheric concentration of nitrous oxide from an Antarctic ice core. Nature 360: 449–451.
Li, Y.-H. & S. Gregory, 1974. Diffusion of ions in seawater and in deep-sea sediments. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 38: 703–714.
Martens, C. S. & J. P. Chanton. 1989. Radon as a tracer of biogenic gas equilibration and transport from methane-saturated sediments. J. Geophys. Res. 4: 3451–3459.
Matson, P. A. & P. M. Vitousek, 1987. Cross-system comparison of soil nitrogen transformations and nitrous oxide flux in tropical forest ecosystems. Global Biogeoch. Cycles 1: 163–170.
Matson, P. A. & P. M. Vitousek, 1990. Ecosystem approach to a global nitrous oxide budget. Bioscience 40: 667–672.
Middelburg, J. J., G. Klaver, J. Nieuwenhuize & T. Vlug, 1995. Carbon and nitrogen cycling in intertidal sediments near Doel, Scheldt Estuary. Hydrobiologia 311 (Dev. Hydrobiol. 110): 57–69.
Miller, L. G., Oremland, R. S. & S. Paulsen, 1986. Measurement of nitrous oxide reductase activity in aquatic sediments. Appl. envir. Microb. 51: 18–24.
Nieuwenhuize, J., Y. E. M. Maas & J. J. Middelburg, 1994. Rapid analysis of organic carbon and nitrogen in marine particles. Mar. Chem. 45: 217–224.
Peeters, J. C. H. & L. Peperzak, 1990. Nutrient limitation in the North Sea: A bioassay approach. Neth. J. Sea Res. 26: 61–73.
Schlesinger, W. H., 1991. Biogeochemostry. An analysis of global change. Academic Press Inc.
Seitzinger, S., 1988. Denitrification in freshwater and coastal marine ecosystems: ecological and geochemical significance. Limnol. Oceanogr. 33: 702–724.
Smith, C. J., R. D. deLaune & W. H. Patrick, Jr., 1983. Nitrous oxide emission from Gulf Coast wetlands. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 47: 1805–1814.
Soetaert, K & P. M. J. Herman, 1995. Nitrogen dynamics in the Westerschelde estuary (SW Netherlands) estimated by means of the ecosystem model MOSES. Hydrobiologia 311 (Dev. Hydrobiol. 110): 225–246.
Tiedje, J. M., 1988. Ecology of denitrification and dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium. In: Zehnder, A. (ed.) Biology of anaerobic microorganisms. Wiley, New York: 179–244.
Van Eck, G. T. M., N. de Pauw, M. van den Langenbergh & G. Verreet, 1991. Emissies, gehalten, gedrag en effecten van (micro)verontreinigingen in het stroomgebied van de Schelde en Schelde-estuarium. Water 60: 164–181 (in Dutch).
Van Raaphorst, W., H. T. Kloosterhuis, E. M. Berghuis, A. J. M. Gieles, J. F. P. Malschaert & G. J. Van Noort, 1992. Nitrogen cycling in two types of sediments of the southern North Sea (Frisian front, broad fourteens): Field data and mesocosm results. Neth. J. Sea Res. 28: 293–316.
Watson, P. G., P. E. Frickers & C. M. Goodchild, 1985. Spatial and seasonal variations in the chemistry of sediment interstitial waters in the Tamar estuary. Estuar. coast. Shelf. Sci. 21: 105–119.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Middelburg, J.J., Klaver, G., Nieuwenhuize, J. et al. Nitrous oxide emissions from estuarine intertidal sediments. Hydrobiologia 311, 43–55 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00008570
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00008570