The mechanism of denitrification was studied in raw seawater collected from the oxygen minimum layer of the northeast tropical Pacific Ocean. Two separate and not simultaneous stages in the denitrification process were evident. During the first stage, nitrate was reduced to nitrite. Thereafter, an additional reaction occurred in which nitrite was further reduced. The rates of reduction appear to be independent of nitrate concentration. Ammonia and nitrous oxide were not significant products of nitrate reduction.
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Goering et al. (1970) studied this question.