Terra Preta - The parent thread which started it all

[Michaelangelica]

"We want ours to burn good and slow," said Young Billy.
"If he burns fast he leaves nowt but ash.
The slower the fire the better the charcoal".
Susan was watching carefully.
"Why doesn't it go out?" she asked.
"Got too good a hold," said Young Billy.
"Once he's got a good hold you can cover a fire up and the better you cover him the hotter he is and the slower he burns.
But if you let him have plenty of air there's no holding him."
Arthur Ransome, "Swallows & Amazons", 1930.
seen at:
http://www.personal.rdg.ac.uk/~scsharip/Charcoal.htm:)

[Michaelangelica]

Another short article.
This time they are trying to replicate Terra preta.
This is from an abstract of a paper presented at the World Congress of Soil Science on
Thursday, 13 July 2006. The full paper does not seem to be available

http://crops.confex.com/crops/wc2006...ram/P16274.HTM

Terra Preta de Índio (TPI)

The high levels of soil organic matter and black carbon strongly darken the color, change the structure, and the hydraulic properties of the soils.
The texture is lighter and the workability of TPI is easier, especially when TPI is wet.
Because of their easy workability and longer lasting fertility in relation to surrounding soils, local populations intensively cultivate these sites.
TPI seem to be a very resilient soil type that keeps their good soil physical qualities even when submitted to intensive soil management.
Frequent findings of charcoal and highly aromatic humic substances suggest that residues of incomplete combustion of organic material are important.

In Manaus, Brazil we are studying the effect of charcoal amendments to the dystrofic and acric soils in an attempt to recreate some soil qualities showed by the TPI.

[Michaelangelica]

A research article on the clays added to terra preta
Very detailed
You need to be a geologist and chemist to read it but very good.

It seems other rocks apart from pottery may have been added to the soil as well? (I am having trouble getting my head arround article-translated form Portugese!) What is cauixi and cariapé?
http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=...pt=sci_arttext

most of mineral grains were taken from fresh crystalline rocks and intentionally crushed and introduced into clay material as well as cauixi and cariapé.

The above described minerals and organic substances led to identify the following materials as raw materials for the ceramics:

1) clay material derived from weathering (saprolite/mottling zone) of fine crystalline and less frequent sedimentary rocks (indicated by clay-derived minerals and iron oxy-hydroxides, anatase and quartz );

2) fresh crystalline rocks crushed (feldspars, quartz and rock fragments);

3) organic materials (cauixi and burned cariapé).


The abundance of fresh feldspars, rocks fragments and roundless quartz indicate that coarse igneous rocks, e.g. granites, granodiorites, and even rhyolites and quartz of veins were used as temper, after crushing. It's possible that pre-historic Indians extracted the fresh rocks from the same place where they took the clayey saprolite.

To improve the plasticity of the raw material they introduce organic material like cauixi and cariapé, crushed quartz, or even old ceramic (waste) crushed, in an old process of recycling.

.

[Michaelangelica]

Famous last words??

CSIRO MEDIA RELEASE 97/58
3 April 1997

LEGACY OF A THOUSAND BUSHFIRES

Australia's soil is even poorer than was thought, says CSIRO Land and Water researcher Jan Skjemstad. Much of our small supply of carbon - an essential element in fertile soil - is in the form of useless charcoal, resulting from tens of thousands of years of bushfires.

"The charcoal is mostly carbon, but it is in a form which can't be used by plants or soil organisms," said Mr Skjemstad.

[erich]

Another finding that supports the need to develope these soils on a large scale:

New Scientist News - Fertilisers give the lungs of the planet bad breath

http://www.newscientist.com/article/...ad-breath.html


Erich

[Michaelangelica]

Originally Posted by erich

Another finding that supports the need to develope these soils on a large scale:

New Scientist News - Fertilisers give the lungs of the planet bad breath

http://www.newscientist.com/article/...ad-breath.html


Erich

Thanks Erich

Nitrogen fertiliser raised the carbon dioxide output by 22 per cent, and a mixture of the two by 14 per cent."

I wonder what is happening on the wheat belts of Australia, Canada and USA? Surely these would be the greatest users of NPK? I wonder if that produces CO2 too?

So far this year I figure I've used about 50K of carbon (charcoal) in my soil . I have mainly used this in pots, i haven't really started in the garden (looking for cheaper sources).
So can some mathematician tell me how I am going in the carbon sequestration stakes? and if there where more nuts like me. . .?

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by Michaelangelica

So can some mathematician tell me how I am going in the carbon sequestration stakes? and if there where more nuts like me. . .?

Yes Micha. You have sequestered exactly 100 times as much charcoal in soil as I have.
Can't say as I notice any difference in my charcoal enriched tomatoes from the controls yet. I may just have to wait 'till harvest.

[Michaelangelica]

Originally Posted by Turtle

Yes Micha. You have sequestered exactly 100 times as much charcoal in soil as I have.
Can't say as I notice any difference in my charcoal enriched tomatoes from the controls yet. I may just have to wait 'till harvest.

Yes my experiments aren't showing much yet either.
If gardening teaches you anything, it is patience.
Perhaps we need to wait 100 years to see results

I do have a tomato with a good crop forming (it is winter here).
This is the first time I have seen this happen (My habanero Chilli , is again, covered in fruit too.?)
This is because
1) I am a great Gardener
2) It is a hardy heritage variety
3) It is near the pool and we now live near a lake so climate is milder
4) The 'Global' is Warming and We Are All Going To Die!!

[erich]

A.M. Leonard, an east coast hortoculture supply house, amleo.com , has activated Charcoal, special order, product # 691450 , 40Lbs , $70

I believe, to have fast results, an M-Roots type fungus inoculent and local compost would get this super community of wee beasties populated into their proper Soil horizon Carbon Condos.

Erich

[Michaelangelica]

Not my East coast. But I have found someone who has promised me hardwood charcoal in tiny pieces.He makes it himself. It's been a bit wet lately so I haven't heard from him & don't know costs icluding freight yet.
Some nice condo pictures here
http://www.edinformatics.com/math_science/carbon.htm
I don't know how to paste them here
The fullerene is my choice if I were more of a bacteia/bug whatever

Same site this was an interseting note
A new (fifth) allotrope of carbon was recently found. It is a spongy solid that is extremely lightweight and, unusually, attracted to magnets. The inventors of this new form of carbon -- a magnetic carbon nanofoam-- say it could may someday find medical applications (see review article from Nature)

This is interesting too. Especially in light of the global warming debate
http://www.sdearthtimes.com/et0998/et0998s8.html

Another important part of the study was an estimate of carbon content in bacteria. Carbon, of course, is a crucial element in numerous natural processes, so knowing the amount of it could contribute substantially to knowledge of carbon cycles.
Scientists assume that carbon in the bacteria that live in soil and subsurface takes up about one-half of their dry weight.
The team thus found that the total amount of bacterial carbon in the soil and subsurface to be yet another staggering number, 5 X 10**17 g or the weight of the United Kingdom.

Rather surprisingly, the group at Georgia found that the total carbon of bacteria is nearly equal to the total carbon found in plants.