Healthy soil = carbon sink

Lindsey Berebitsky Purdue University
Aug 2, 2024
Aug 2, 2024

1 of 9

A tractor spreads powdery gypsum across a field.

Brenda Hofmann/Purdue University

White gypsum powder sits on top of soils after application. A quarter is included for scale.

Brenda Hofmann/Purdue University

USDA biological-science technician Brenda Hofmann points out details in a soil sample to an undergraduate student.

Roland Wilhelm/Purdue University

A soil probe has a hollow chamber inside that can collect and hold a few inches of a soil profile when pushed into the ground.

Roland Wilhelm/Purdue University

Agricultural and biological-engineering student Kaitlyn Johnson, left, and food-science student Payton Taylor prepare to take soil samples.

Roland Wilhelm/Purdue University

'Gypsum has a lot of agricultural benefits because it’s calcium sulfate,' says Javier Gonzalez, a research soil scientist who’s worked for the USDA's National Soil Erosion Research Laboratory since 2012.

USDA

Roland Wilhelm and other researchers are working to understand the structural and biological changes to soil that come with calcium additions, and how calcium’s linkage powers might prove useful for holding carbon in the soil.

Purdue University

Lynn Grooms

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Lindsey Berebitsky Purdue University

Soils are a rare win-win when it comes to burying the carbon released from burning fossil fuels. Soils that store more carbon are typically more fertile because carbon helps to retain nutrients and moisture, glue soil particles together to create space for roots and gas exchange, and provide energy that fuels belowground life. Burying carbon in agricultural lands will improve fertility while drawing down carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and easing the heat trapping that is driving climate change.

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