Groundwater nitrification is a poorly characterized process affecting the speciation and transport of nitrogen. Cores from two sites in a plume of contamination were examined using culture-based and molecular techniques targeting nitrification processes. The first site, located beneath a sewage effluent infiltration bed, received treated effluent containing O2 (> 300 µM) and NH4+ (51–800 µM). The second site was 2.5 km down-gradient near the leading edge of the ammonium zone within the contaminant plume and featured vertical gradients of O2, NH4+, and NO3− (0–300, 0–500, and 100–200 µM with depth, respectively). Ammonia- and nitrite-oxidizers enumerated by the culture-based MPN method were low in abundance at both sites (1.8 to 350 [...]
