Assessment of N2 production in anoxic regions of Effingham Inlet, British Columbia

Abstract

Anerobic processes that reduce fixed nitrogen to N2 gas were determined to be present in the anoxic regions of Effingham Inlet, British Columbia. Within this fjord two sills deter circulation of oxygen rich water from Barkley Sound and subsequently from the Pacific Ocean. In these anoxic basins inorganic N2 builds up as a result of denitrification. This is in excess of the equilibrium concentration predicted by the solubility characteristics of nitrogen.