High-precision measurements indicate denitrification efficiencies of 75-85% in muddy sediments covering about 70% of Port Phillip Bay's seafloor. The dataset contains integrated fluxes of biogenic N2, ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite from benthic chamber experiments, showing a stoichiometric C:N ratio of 5.7. Data was published by the Australian Ocean Data Network and last updated in 2026.
Use Cases
- Modeling nitrogen budgets in coastal waters based on measured N2, ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite fluxes.
- Assessing water quality impacts from sediment processes based on denitrification rates and organic carbon loadings.
- Studying the coupling of ammonification, nitrification, and denitrification in sedimentary microbial communities.
- Calibrating marine ecosystem models with direct determinations of biogenic N2 fluxes.
Strengths
- Provides high-precision direct measurements of biogenic N2 fluxes, a key metric for denitrification.
- Reports specific denitrification rates (~1.3 mmol N2 m-2 day-1) and efficiencies (75-85%) for muddy sediments.
- Includes stoichiometric relationships (C:N ratio of 5.7) and organic carbon loading data (~15-25 mmol m-2 day-1).
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
- Freshness should be verified as the last update date is in the future (2026).
Provenance
- Source
- Australian Ocean Data Network
- Collection Method
- Direct determinations from benthic chamber experiments, including chambers 'spiked' with 15NO3.
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-06-23 02:20:28.945910
- Geography
- Port Phillip Bay