Temperature dependence of nitrous oxide production from Brookston clay

A gas-stripping flow system is described whereby an inert gas, He, is used to remove nitrogenous product gases from a soil column undergoing anaerobic denitrification under steady state conditions. Net rates of nitrous oxide N 2 O, production are measured, for Brookston clay over a temperature range of 4–25 °C. The calculated Arrhenius activation energy for net N 2 O production remained approximately constant at 79.9 kJ∙mol −1 over a 37-day period. The emission rates declined slowly over the period by roughly a factor of 2. The significance of these results is discussed with comparisons to results obtained by others on the effect of temperature on denitrification rates in a variety of soils.