Abstract
PELAGIC sediments cover more than half of the Earth's surface1, so that the processes which operate within them are potentially very significant in global terms. The effects of organic diagenesis on the dissolved oxygen and nitrogen content of water trapped in pelagic sediments are reported here. Because of practical difficulties this aspect of geochemistry has received little attention: although Müller2 and Bender et al.3 have provided some insight into its complexity and interest. Data is presented here which suggests strongly that oxygenated pelagic sediments supply a globally significant flux of nitrogen (N2) to the ocean, and that this gas is probably produced by denitrification occurring in microenvironments, such as zooplankton faecal pellets, at or near the sediment–water interface.
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WILSON, T. Evidence for denitrification in aerobic pelagic sediments. Nature 274, 354–356 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1038/274354a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/274354a0
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