【Objective】Nitrous oxide(N_2O)is an important greenhouse gas contributing to global warming and depleting stratospheric ozone. Agricultural soils are the major sources of anthropogenic N_2O emissions. N_2O emitted from natural and cultivated soils is mainly generated through nitrification and denitrification,accounting for about 70% of the global total,but contributions of other processes(such as chemodenitrification)are poorly understood. Hydroxylamine(NH_2OH)and nitrite(NO_2~--N)are two main intermediate products of nitrification,and the latter is also an intermediate product of denitrification,both of which can produce N_2O through abiotic processes. However,relative contributions of these two products to N_2O emission in the same soil remain unclear. 【Method】To determine contributions of the two products, NH_2OH and NO_2~--N,through abiotic processes in soil to emission of N_2O and to identify related affecting factors,an indoor incubation experiment was designed and carried out,using soil samples collected from a tea garden in Quzhou,an upland field in Yingtan,a vegetable garden in Changshu,an upland field in Hailun,an orchard in Changshu and an upland field in Fengqiu,representing four types of land use. The soil samples,sterilized(autoclaved three times at 121℃ for 1 h before nitrogen fertilization)and unsterilized, were spiked with NH_2OH or NO_2~--N,separately,and incubated. Emissions of N_2O from the soil samples were monitored after 2 hours of incubation. 【Result】Addition of NH_2OH or NO_2~--N increased N_2O emission from each tested soil,with N_2O flux peaking 2 h after the addition of NH_2OH during the observed period, and the highest peak was observed from the soil samples collected from the orchard in Changshu Orchard (1 585 mug kg~(-1) h~(-1)). N_2O emissions from the soils spiked with NO_2~--N varied in the range of 6.42~61.28 mug kg~(-1) h~(-1) in flux. In unsterilized or natural soil samples spiked with NH_2OH,N_2O emission coefficients varied from 18.63% to 35.95%,which were 10.03 times~76.46 times that in the soil samples spiked with NO_2~--N. Effect of sterilization on N_2O emission differed between the soil samples spiked with NH_2OH and their respective ones spiked with NO_2~--N. Sterilization significantly reduced N_2O emission in all the soil samples spiked with NH_2OH,especially in the soil samples from the tea garden in Quzhou,with the reduction reaching,up to 94%,while in the soil samples spiked with NO_2~--N,the effect of sterilization was observed only in those from Changshu and Fengqiu,but reverse effects were found in those from Quzhou,Yingtan, Changshu and Hailun. In all the soil samples,abiotic processes of NH_2OH contributed 6%~73% to total of N_2O emission,whereas abiotic process of NO_2~--N did 3%~236%. In the soil samples from Quzhou, Yingtan,Changshu and Hailun,all being higher than 7 in pH,abiotic process of NO_2~--N contributed more than abiotic process of NH_2OH did to N_2O emission but in the soil samples from Changshu and Fengqiu, both being higher than 7 in pH too,reverse trends were found,indicating soil pH is a key factor affecting abiotic N_2O production from NH_2OH or NO_2~--N. In the soil samples spiked with NH_2OH,the contribution of abiotic process,in terms of proportion,to the total N_2O emission was significantly and positively related to soil pH(p< 0.05),while in the soil samples spiked with NO_2~--N,it was negatively related(p< 0.01). 【Conclusion】All the above-describedfindings suggest that the formation of N_2O from NO_2~--N is probably mainly attributed to abiotic processes in acid soils and to biotic processes in alkaline soils,while the formation of N_2O from NH_2OH goes just the opposite.