Scientists Discover Gigantic Global Reserve of Soil Carbon Underground
Soil carbon typically refers to the organic component, termed soil organic carbon (SOC). However, there is also an inorganic component, referred to as soil inorganic…
Soil News
Challenging Long-Standing Climate Assumptions: Earth Is Getting Hotter, but Soil Is Getting Wetter
Study indicates that changes in rainfall patterns, rather than shifts in temperature, account for trends in soil moisture. Soil moisture levels play a crucial role…
Nature’s Fork in the Road: Soil’s Carbon Capture Dilemma
Recent research reveals the mechanism by which soil captures atmospheric carbon derived from plants. When carbon molecules from plants make their way into the soil,…
Scientists Discover “Astonishing” Secret to a Better Tasting Cup of Tea
You’d think the complex flavor in a quality cup of tea would depend mainly on the tea varieties used to make it. However, recent research…
Amazon’s Dark Secret: The Soil That Supercharges Tree Growth
Research indicates that Amazon dark earth (ADE) promotes tree growth by as much as sixfold. The study demonstrated that tree seedlings grown in ADE-enriched soils…
Under Siege: Earth’s “Living Skin” Under Threat From Climate Change
Researchers report that a new method for assessing microbial activity in wetted soil leads to a better understanding of vulnerability. Using a novel method to…
Not What Scientists Thought – What Causes Mudslides and Floods After Wildfires?
Researchers previously thought that a waxy layer in scorched soil led to water runoff on the ground. However, recent discoveries indicate that burnt terrain can…
Unearthing the Amazon’s Dark Secret: How Ancient Soil Can Boost Forest Restoration Across the Globe
Adding Amazonian dark earth to soils boosts plant growth, shows study. Adding Amazonian dark earth (ADE) to soils can significantly boost plant growth, according to…
Humans Are Leaving Behind a Frozen Legacy of Microbes on Mount Everest
Located nearly 5 miles above sea level in the Himalayas, the barren, wind-swept depression between Mount Everest and its neighboring summit, Lhotse, remains devoid of…
New Drugs for Bad Bugs: From Rare Soil Microbe, a New Antibiotic Candidate for Drug-Resistant Infections
As drug-resistant and emerging infections become an increasingly serious global health threat, demand for new types of antibiotics is surging. Researchers are racing to reexamine…
New Research Shows Estimates of the Carbon Cycle – Vital to Predicting Climate Change – Are Incorrect
The findings do not counter the established science of climate change but highlight how the accounting of the amount of carbon withdrawn by plants and…
Shifting Sands, Creeping Soils – And a New Understanding of Landscape Evolution
A recent study published in Nature Communications finds that piles of sand grains, even when undisturbed, are in constant motion. Using highly-sensitive optical interference data,…
Breakthrough New Imaging Method Views Soil Carbon at Near-Atomic Scales
The Earth’s soils contain more than three times the amount of carbon than is found in the atmosphere, but the processes that bind carbon in…
Widespread Presence of Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria in Agricultural Soils
With infectious disease deaths on the rise, a new study gives reason for concern. Researchers found that agricultural soils contained more diverse populations of drug-resistant…
Researchers Believe Mars Surface too Arid for Life
Researchers from Imperial College London have been studying and analyzing individual particles of Martian soil that was collected during the 2008 NASA Phoenix mission to…