Mineral–organic associations act as mediators of litter-derived N flow to the mineral soil, but the time scales and pathways involved are not well known. To close that gap, we took advantage of decade old 15 N litter labeling experiments conducted in two European forests. We fractionated surface soils by den-sity with limited disaggregating treatment and investigated organic matter (OM) characteristics using d 13 C, d 15 N and the C/N ratio. Mineral properties were studied by X-ray diffraction and selective dissolu-tion of pedogenic oxides. Three types of associations were isolated: plant debris with few trapped minerals (<1.65 g/cm 3), aggre-gates dominated by phyllosilicates (1.65–2.4 g/cm 3), and single mineral grains and pedogenic oxides with little OM (>2.4 g/cm 3). A small proportion of 15 N tracer was rapidly attached to single mineral grains, while most of it moved from plant debris to aggregates of low density and progressively to aggregates of higher density that contain a more microbially processed OM. After a decade, 60% of the 15 N tracer found in the investigated horizon was retained in aggregates, while plant debris still contained 40% of the tracer. We present a conceptual model of OM and N flow through soil mineral–organic associations, which accounts for changes in density, dynamics and chemistry of the isolated structures. It suggests that microbial reworking of OM entrapped within aggregates (1.65–2.4 g/cm 3) causes the gradient of aggre-gate packing and, further on, controls the flow of litter-derived N through aggregates. For associations with denser material (>2.4 g/cm 3), mineralogy determines the density of the association, the type of pat-chy OM attached to mineral surfaces and controls the extent of litter-derived N incorporation.