Science · 6 pages · 12 min
How the nitrogen cycle returns an element to the air
Microbes in airless corners strip nitrate and send nitrogen gas back to the atmosphere.
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From the opening
The nitrogen cycle returns nitrogen to the air mainly by denitrification, in which microbes use nitrate in place of oxygen and release nitrogen gas or nitrous oxide. Atoms that had been tied up in soil and in living tissue go back to being gas. The opening covers from organic nitrogen to nitrate, denitrification where oxygen is scarce, and nitrous oxide beside nitrogen gas.
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Inside
- From organic nitrogen to nitrate
- Denitrification where oxygen is scarce
- Nitrous oxide beside nitrogen gas
- Why a wet soil can lose nitrate
- Where the idea stops applying
- A distinction worth keeping
Sources
- Denitrification of nitrate to nitrogen gas
- Nitrification as the oxygen-requiring step before it