Denitrification continental shelf regions

Consequently, authors have developed the model of coupled nitrification/denitrification for continental shelf sediments to estimate the spatial distribution of denitrification throughout shelf regions in the North Atlantic basin. Using data from a wide range of continental shelf regions, authors found a linear relationship between denitrification and sediment oxygen uptake (Figure 20). 

This relationship was applied to specific continental shelf regions by combining it with a second regression relating sediment oxygen uptake to primary production in the overlaying water. This allows the calculations of denitrification rates as a function of phytoplankton production ... 

The model-predicted average denitrification rate for continental shelf sediments in the North Atlantic Basin is 0.69 mmol N as N2 per m /day. Denitrification rates (per unit area) are highest for the continental shelf region in the western North Atlantic between Cape Hatteras and South Florida and lowest for Hudson Bay, the Baffin Island region, and Greenland (Figure 21). 

Figure 20. Relatiomhip between denitrification rates coupled to sediment nitrification and sediment oxygen consumption rates in various continental shelf regions. Dashed line indicates regression line (Seitzinger and Giblin, 1996).

Figure 21. Model predicted rates of denitrification coupled to sediment nitrification for various continental shelf regions in the North Atlantic basin a) denitrification rates per unit area (mmol N as N2 perm /day), andb) N removal by region (mol N x j e.g.. Nova Scotia/Hattras...

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