Denitrification Fluxes and Efficiencies in Port Phillip Bay Sediments

High-precision measurements of biogenic N2 and nitrogen metabolite fluxes from benthic chamber experiments in Port Phillip Bay. The dataset likely contains integrated flux rates for ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite, with denitrification efficiencies reported between 75-85% at moderate organic carbon loadings. It was published by Geoscience Australia Data and last updated in April 2026.

Use Cases

• Modeling nitrogen cycling in coastal ecosystems based on measured N2, ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite fluxes.
• Assessing water quality impacts based on the relationship between organic carbon loading and denitrification efficiency.
• Studying microbial process coupling (ammonification, nitrification, denitrification) in marine sediments.
• Calibrating biogeochemical models with direct determinations of biogenic N2 production rates.

Strengths

• Reports specific denitrification rates (~1.3 mmol N2 m-2 day-1) and efficiencies (75-85%).
• Quantifies organic carbon loadings (~15-25 mmol m-2 day-1 and >100 mmol m-2 day-1) across different sedimentary facies.
• Includes results from 15NO3 tracer experiments, indicating the source of nitrate used by denitrifiers.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the single study location in Port Phillip Bay.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

High-precision measurements from benthic chamber experiments, including 15NO3 tracer studies.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-30 13:32:31.225293; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Port Phillip Bay, Australia