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noun

Nitrification n.

(Chem.)

(a)

The act, process, or result of combining with nitrogen or some of its compounds.

(b)

The act or process of oxidizing nitrogen or its compounds so as to form nitrous or nitric acid.

A process of oxidation, in which nitrogenous vegetable and animal matter in the presence of air, moisture, and some basic substances, as lime or alkali carbonate, is converted into nitrates. Note: The process is going on at all times in porous soils and in water contaminated with nitrogenous matter, and is supposed to be due to the presence of a bacteria, such as members of the genus Azotobacter, formerly called nitrification ferments. In former times the process was extensively made use of in the production of saltpeter.

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Etymology of 'Nitrification'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Nitrification" Quotes from Famous Books

... whole intimately together, like a gardener who prepares fine soil for his choicest plants. In this state it is well fitted to retain moisture and to absorb all soluble substances, as well as for the process of nitrification. The bones of dead animals, the harder parts of insects, the shells of land mollusks, leaves, twigs, etc., are before long all buried beneath the accumulated castings of worms, and are thus brought in a more ...

— Young Folks' Library, Volume XI (of 20) - Wonders of Earth, Sea and Sky • Various

... the fact that the decomposition of the organic matter of the soil—including both fresh materials and old humus—is hastened by tillage and by underdrainage, which permit the oxygen of the air to enter the soil more freely, oxygen being a most active agent in nitrification and other decomposition processes of organic matter, as well as in the more common combustion of ...

— The Farm That Won't Wear Out • Cyril G. Hopkins

... These beds were located at Columbia, South Carolina, Charleston, Savannah, Augusta, Mobile, Selma, and various other points. At the close of 1864 there were two million eight hundred thousand feet of earth collected, and in various stages of nitrification, of which a large proportion was presumed to yield one and a half pound of niter per foot of earth. The whole country was laid off into districts, each of which was under the charge of an officer, who obtained details of workmen from the army, and made his monthly ...

— The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government • Jefferson Davis

... following brief notes I propose to consider in the first place the present position of the theory of nitrification, and next to give a short account of the results of some recent experiments conducted in the ...

— Scientific American Supplement, Vol. XIX, No. 470, Jan. 3, 1885 • Various