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The effect of nitrification in the oxygen balance of the Upper Chattahoochee River, Georgia

January 1, 1979

Oxygen consumption as a result of nitrification, and carbonaceous bacterial oxidation were compared in a 108 kilometer reach of the Chattahoochee River, Georgia. Nitrogenous and carbonaceous oxygen consumption were separated by using an inhibitor of nitrification 1-allyl-2-thiourea. The comparison was conducted in the laboratory using samples collected from the water column. Nitrification accounted for 38 to 52 percent of the total oxygen consumption. Nitrifying bacteria were enumerated from the same reach of the river. The population of Nitrosomonas ranged from 10 to 1,000 per milliliter in the water column and 100 to 100,000 per gram of benthic sediment. The nitrobacter population ranged from 10 to 100 per milliliter in the water column and 100 to 1,000 per gram in the benthic sediment. The concentration of ammonium, nitrite, and nitrate as N was determined from water samples collected throughout the study reach. The average rate of ammonium disappearance and of nitrate appearance was 0.02 milligram per liter per hour of flow time. (Woodard-USGS)

Publication Year 1979
Title The effect of nitrification in the oxygen balance of the Upper Chattahoochee River, Georgia
DOI 10.3133/wri7910
Authors Theodore A. Ehlke
Publication Type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Series Title Water-Resources Investigations Report
Series Number 79-10
Index ID wri7910
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization South Atlantic Water Science Center