Denitrification in intact subsoil cores

 Intact, unamended subsoil cores taken from two contrasting field sites were incubated in the laboratory at 12  °C under aerobic (21% O₂) and anaerobic (1.1–5.5% O₂) conditions. Denitrification of ¹⁵N-NO₃ ^– diffusing into the cores across a semi-permeable membrane was estimated by: (1) direct observation of ¹⁵N-labelled N₂ and N₂O, and (2) mass balance following sectioning at the end of the experiment. The in situ denitrification potential (rates where the supply of NO₃ ^– is not limited by diffusion) was estimated using a finite-difference approximation to a diffusion reaction equation based on comparison of time and depth profiles of NO₃ ^– and Br^– in the incubated cores. Potentials between 0.2 and 2.5 mg N kg^–1 day^–1 were obtained under low O₂ and natural C concentrations. These results indicate the potential for denitrification in glacial till subsoils to reduce NO₃ ^– leaching to ground or surface waters to levels unlikely to result in a pollution hazard. The major product of NO₃ ^– reduction in these subsoils was observed to be N₂, rather than the greenhouse gas and catalyst of stratospheric O₃ removal, N₂O. Received: 31 October 1997