Origin and distribution of soil nitrates on the Nevada Test Site

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Authors

Leatham, Stacey

Issue Date

1982

Type

Thesis

Language

en_US

Keywords

Nitrate , Yucca Flats , Frenchman Flats , Nitrogen Fixation , Blue-green Algae , Algal Crusts , Oxidation , Atmospheric Nitrogen , Nitrosomonas , Nitrobacter , Microorganisms , Desert Ecosystems , Geology , Nevada , Geomorphology , Climate , Hydrology , Acetylene Reduction Assay , Gas Chromatograph Analysis , Crust Samples , Chemical Data , Mackay Theses and Dissertations Grant Collection

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Abstract

Unusually high nitrate concentrations were found in soils of Yucca and Frenchman Flats. A maximum concentration of 11,100 mg/kg was found within the 2-6 inch soil depth on Frenchman playa. Maximum nitrate concentrations in the playa soils generally occurred within the 6 inch to 2 foot soil depth. The maxima for all playa sampling sites averaged 4,693 mg/kg nitrate. Soils from the bajada had lower nitrate concentrations, with an average maximum concentration of 588 mg/kg. Nitrogen fixation by blue-green algae was found to occur at 79 percent of the randomly chosen sample sites. Under optimum laboratory conditions nitrogen fixation ranged from 4.1 to 46,100g N2/acre/day. Average nitrogen fixation in soil cores was 359g N2/acre/day whereas, the average fixation by algal crusts was 5,527g N2/acre/day. Where nitrate was found to accumulate there was generally an associated decrease in the pH of the soil (from about 9.0 to 7.0) possibly indicating the oxidation of atmospheric nitrogen fixed by algae to nitrate by Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter.

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Online access for this thesis was created in part with support from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) administered by the Nevada State Library, Archives and Public Records through the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA). To obtain a high quality image or document please contact the DeLaMare Library at https://unr.libanswers.com/ or call: 775-784-6945.

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University of Nevada, Reno

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In Copyright(All Rights Reserved)

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