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Gaseous Losses of Nitrogen from Freshly Wetted Desert Soils¹

ABSTRACT

On the basis of manometric data and mass spectrometer analyses, N₂ and N₂O were formed when samples from the dry surface of two semiarid soils were moistened and incubated under argon for 22 to 42 hours at 38C.

Of the endogenous soil nitrate-N present in each soil, approximately 60% was volatilized by Pima clay loam (agriculture soil) and 0.6% was volatilized by Sonoita sandy loam (virgin desert soil). When either soil was amended with organic carbon, more gaseous nitrogen (N₂ and N₂O) was evolved than could be accounted for in terms of the initial level of endogenous nitrate.

In ¹⁵N-experiments, N₂O was derived primarily from nitrate. However, although significant amounts of N₂O were evolved by both soils, much of the N₂O was unlabelled further suggesting nonnitrate sources play a role in volatilization of nitrogen from the soils under study.

¹ Supported in part by funds allocated from the Desert Biome, NSF grant GB15886.

² Formerly Assistant Professor, Department of Agr. Chem. and Soils, Univ. of Arizona, Tucson 85721. Presently Post Doctoral Fellow, Dep. of Soil Sci., Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison 53706.

Received for publication February 10, 1972. Accepted for publication April 18, 1972.