Estimates of denitrification and nitrification in coastal and estuarine sediments.

Denitrification and nitrification in sediments of Tama Estuary and Odawa Bay, Japan, were investigated by the combined use of a continuous-flow sediment-water system and a N tracer technique. At Odawa Bay, the nitrification rate was comparable to the nitrate reduction rate, and 70% of the N(2) evolved originated from nitrogenous oxides (nitrate and nitrite) which were produced by the action of nitrifying bacteria in the sediments. At Tama Estuary, the nitrate reduction rate was 11 to 17 times higher than the nitrification rate, and nitrogenous oxides derived from ammonium accounted for only 6 to 9% of the N(2) evolution by denitrification.