Abstract
Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a key intermediate for several steps of the aquatic nitrogen cycle. In oxygenated oceanic waters, bacterial oxidation of amino- and ammonium-N is a dominant source of N2O (ref. 1); in regions of intense nitrification ΔN2O values (difference between observed N2O and air-equilibrium concentration) typically rise to 40–100 nmol l−1 (ref. 2). By contrast, anoxic waters are often undersaturated in N2O because of respiratory consumption by denitrifying bacteria3. We describe here an extreme accumulation of nitrous oxide (ΔN2O of >2,000 nmol l−1) in the saline bottom waters of Lake Vanda (77°35′S, 161°40′E), a warm meromictic water body in the Dry Valley region of Antarctica. From in situ experiments assaying various components of the nitrogen cycle, we conclude that this N2O is produced by a narrow band of nitrifiers lying well above the oxycline. Nitrous oxide is lost from this zone at slow rates by diffusion, ultimately to the atmosphere above, or below to the upper anoxic zone where it is consumed by a finely stratified population of denitrifying bacteria.
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Vincent, W., Downes, M. & Vincent, C. Nitrous oxide cycling in Lake Vanda, Antarctica. Nature 292, 618–620 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/292618a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/292618a0
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