Hello Olga, thanks for speaking with us today, can you tell us a little about your background and how you got to where you are now? Thank you for inviting me for what might be my first interview! My background is in environmental science and I chose to study soils because of how useful they …[Read More]
Biochar is a carbon rich product of biomass pyrolysis, a process where biological material is exposed to high temperatures, in the absence of oxygen, to cause the decomposition of that material into various chemical and physical components. By going through this process, biochar can be a valuable soil additive and a carbon sink with a …[Read More]
This image depicts the soil formation, that is weathering of rock. Soil is actually formed by weathering of rock by physical, chemical and biological methods. This image depicts physical and biological weathering. Physical weathering by the action of temperature and biological weathering by the growth of some species of grass through the cracks. Image clicked …[Read More]
Geotalk is a regular feature highlighting early career researchers and their work. In this interview we speak to Matthias Vanmaercke, an associate professor at the University of Liège in Belgium who studies soil erosion and land degradation across Europe and Africa. At the EGU General Assembly he received the 2018 Soil System Sciences Division Outstanding …[Read More]
The grassy Namibian desert is pock-marked with millions of circular patches of bare earth just like these shown in the picture between linear dunes. Viewed from a balloon, they make the ground look like a moonscape. Commonly known as fairy circles, the patches range from two to 12 metres across and appear in a 2000 …[Read More]
Do a search for images of dirt in Google and you might be surprised to find that the vast majority of returned images are of a substance that we ought to be protecting and treasuring, rather than dismissing as something unclean and without value: soil. It’s not the first time we’ve featured this precious resource …[Read More]