It have been measured the denitrification rates (DR) of sediment in Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron, by N₂ production method. Triplicate samples of sediment core were collected at two GLERL long-term monitoring sites of the Bay in July and August of 1995. The DR are 48.81 -24.99 and 32.81-40.51 micromol N₂ ^-2h^-1 in the Inner and Outer regions of Saginaw Bay, respectively.
The characters of DR in Saginaw Bay were studied also in this paper. The DR were influenced by the interactions between the Saginaw River as a main pollution source and the Lake Huron as a reservoir of high quality water. The impacts of zebra mussels (Dreissena Polymorpha) on denitrification in Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron, were discussed, Significant differences in NH₄⁺ exchange fluxes were detected in the inner and outer bays. The molar ratios of N₂:TIN were similar at both sampling sites. Measured DR were positively correlated to O₂ consumption rates in the headspace. Additionally, a negative correlation between NH₄⁺ and NO₃^- concentrations in the overlying water was found.