Gaseous Losses of Nitrogen from Freshly Wetted Desert Soils
1972
Macgregor, A. N.
On the basis of manometric data and mass spectrometer analyses, N₂ and N₂O were formed when samples from the dry surface of two semiarid soils were moistened and incubated under argon for 22 to 42 hours at 38C. Of the endogenous soil nitrate-N present in each soil, approximately 60% was volatilized by Pima clay loam (agriculture soil) and 0.6% was volatilized by Sonoita sandy loam (virgin desert soil). When either soil was amended with organic carbon, more gaseous nitrogen (N₂ and N₂O) was evolved than could be accounted for in terms of the initial level of endogenous nitrate. In ¹⁵N-experiments, N₂O was derived primarily from nitrate. However, although significant amounts of N₂O were evolved by both soils, much of the N₂O was unlabelled further suggesting nonnitrate sources play a role in volatilization of nitrogen from the soils under study.
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