166 results for group: agrogeology-2
Nitrogen in rock: Occurrences and biogeochemical implications
JoAnn M. Holloway,Randy A. Dahlgren
Abstract
There is a growing interest in the role of bedrock in global nitrogen cycling and potential for increased ecosystem sensitivity to human impacts in terrains with elevated background nitrogen concentrations. Nitrogen-bearing rocks are globally distributed and comprise a potentially large pool of nitrogen in nutrient cycling that is frequently neglected because of a lack of routine analytical methods for quantification. Nitrogen in rock originates as organically bound nitrogen associated with sediment, or in thermal waters representing a mixture of sedimentary, mantle, and meteoric sources of nitrogen. ...
Critical evaluation of strategies for mineral fortification of staple food crops
Sonia Gómez-Galera, Eduard Rojas, Duraialagaraja Sudhakar, Changfu Zhu, Ana M Pelacho, Teresa Capell, Paul Christou
Abstract
Staple food crops, in particular cereal grains, are poor sources of key mineral nutrients. As a result, the world's poorest people, generally those subsisting on a monotonous cereal diet, are also those most vulnerable to mineral deficiency diseases. Various strategies have been proposed to deal with micronutrient deficiencies including the provision of mineral supplements, the fortification of processed food, the biofortification of crop plants at source with mineral-rich fertilizers and the implementation of breeding ...
Ants as a powerful biotic agent of olivine and plagioclase dissolution
Ronald I. Dorn
Abstract
The biotic enhancement of Ca-Mg silicate weathering has helped maintain Earth’s habitability over geological time scales by assisting in the gradual drawdown of atmospheric CO2. 25 years of in-situ measurements of Ca-Mg silicate mineral dissolution by ants, termites, root mats, bare ground, and a control reveals ants to be one of the most powerful biotic weathering agents yet recognized. Six sites in Arizona and Texas (USA) indicate that eight different ant species enhance mineral dissolution by ∼50×–300× over controls. A comparison of extracted soil at a 50 cm depth in ant colonies and adjacent bare ground shows ...
Effectiveness of enhanced mineral weathering as a carbon sequestration tool and alternative to agricultural lime: An incubation experiment
Christiana Dietzen, Robert Harrison, Stephani Michelsen-Correa
Abstract
Applying finely ground silicate minerals to soils could mitigate CO2 emissions by enhancing the rate of carbon sequestration via silicate weathering. Using these minerals instead of agricultural lime to increase soil pH would also eliminate the dissolution of lime as a major source of agricultural CO2 emissions. However, dissolution rates of silicate minerals in the soil environment are uncertain and impacts of their application on the decomposition of soil organic matter have yet to be determined. A 3-month soil incubation was performed to investigate the effects ...
Rocks as fertilizers: preliminary studies on potassium availability of some common rocks in Sri Lanka
J. M. NIWAS and C. B. DISSANAYAKE
Abstract
Preliminary investigations of the K availability of some commonly occurring rocks of Sri Lanka
showed that granulitic gneiss, pink granite, migmatitic gneiss and microcline granite release relatively high
amounts of K indicating the capability of using these to provide K in plant nutrition. The finer crushed sizes
are more effective in releasing K, and the availability of the K-reserves under appropriate soil conditions
makes them possible substitutes for synthetic K fertilizers.
Download
Vermicomposting with rock powder increases plant growth
Maria Eunice Paulade Souza, André Mundstock Xavierde Carvalho, Daniely de Cássia Deliberali, Ivo Jucksch, George Gardner Brown, Eduardo Sá Mendonçaca, Irene Maria Cardoso
Abstract
The growth of earthworms in substrates enriched with rock (gneiss and steatite) powder, and the potential of vermicomposting in increasing solubilization of minerals present in rock powder and in promoting plant growth were evaluated. Cattle manure (400 g), was enriched with 0, 5 and 20% of gneiss or steatite powder. Each pot with this mixture received nine earthworms (Eisenia andrei), at a density of 1000 indiv. m−3. After 60 d, earthworms were collected, ...
Evaluation of the potential of volcanic rock waste from southern Brazil as a natural soil fertilizer
Claudete Gindri Ramos, Xavier Querol, Adilson Celimar Dalmora, Karen Cristinade Jesus Pires, Ivo André Homrich Schneider, Luis Felipe Silva Oliveir, Rubens Muller Kautzmann
Abstract
This study was developed to evaluate the chemical and mineralogical properties of acid volcanic rock waste from mining activities by measuring the availability of macronutrients and micronutrients in Milli-Q water, and in acidic solutions to evaluate the potential use of this type of waste as natural soil fertilizers. The sample used in this work was obtained from a company of the mining district of Nova Prata, Rio Grande do Sul State, southern Brazil. Petrographic ...
Environmentally safe release of plant available potassium and micronutrients from organically amended rock mineral powder
B. B. Basak, Binoy Sarkar & Ravi Naidu
Abstract
The staggering production of rock dusts and quarry by-products of mining activities poses an immense environmental burden that warrants research for value-added recycling of these rock mineral powders (RMP). In this study, an incubation experiment was conducted to determine potassium (K) and micronutrients (Zn, Cu, Fe and Mn) release from a quarry RMP to support plant nutrition. Four different size fractions of the RMP were incubated with organic amendments (cow dung and legume straw) under controlled conditions for 90 days. Samples were collected at different intervals (7, 15, 30, 45, 60 and90 ...
