soil
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Science
The soil from beyond the moon suggests a dryer state than the planet facing the earth.
This handout from China’s National Space Agency (CNSA) is an image released by Xinhua News Agency, showing the Lander-Assender combination taken by the Mini Rover after landing on the moon on June 4, 2024. Chinese scientists suggested on Wednesday that the soil and rocks that have returned from the mysterious distance of the moon may be drier than the globe-facing…
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Biology
Scientists discover new microorganisms in the deep soil of the Earth
This image shows an important zone of the Earth that stretches from above the soil through the soil to a depth of up to 700 feet, depicting the microorganisms that live throughout this zone. This zone supports most life on the planet as it regulates critical processes such as soil formation, water quality, and ecosystem health, water cycle, and nutritional…
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Environment
Earth’s storage of soil, lakes and river water is decreasing. And that’s especially bad for agriculture
Part of the Black River is dry on October 4, 2024 at the port of Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. Credit: AP Photo/Edmar Barros, File Dongliyor Ryu, a hydrology professor at the University of Melbourne, and his collaborator, Ki Waong So, were on a train visiting Ryu’s family when they found something amazing. After stopping by the station due to technical issues,…
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Earth
Not just trees: most of the carbon sequestered in the land is stored in the soil and water, research
The swamps of the Alps. Credit: Inrae -sébastiendedanieli Recent studies have shown that carbon stocks in terrestrial ecosystems are increasing, mitigating about 30% of CO2 emissions associated with human activity. The overall value of carbon sinking on the Earth’s surface is fairly well known, as it can be inferred from the total carbon balance of the planet’s anthropogenic emissions, and…
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Earth
Researchers develop new approaches to assess spatial representativeness of soil moisture stations
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain A research team at the Aerospace Information Research Institute (AIR) at the Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed a new framework for globally assessing the spatial representation of soil moisture stations. Their study found that approximately 63% of existing soil moisture observation stations certainly reflect satellite pixel-scale conditions. Published in the IEEE Transactions on Earth Science…
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Space & Cosmos
Red Planet Roving: New Paper Document First Mars Mission Soil Sample
NASA’s patient Mars rover took this selfie in July 2024. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS A new paper released today records the first soil, airfall Dust, and Rock Fragment samples collected by NASA for its return from Mars. Astrobiologists from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, lead the specimen selection team. This paper is published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. Until…
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Environment
Direct measurements can reduce uncertainty in soil carbon credit markets
Credit: CC0 Public Domain Measuring soil carbon directly, rather than relying on predictive models, provides hard evidence of how much carbon is being stored, according to a recent study co-authored with scientists at Yale School of the Environment. It will enable a better assessment of the reliability of agricultural carbon markets. Published in “Environment Research Letters”. By using appropriate research…
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Earth
Nitrate levels in soil suggest extreme weather events due to climate change are accelerating groundwater contamination
Researchers at the University of California, Davis will insert devices underground that continuously collect water samples, providing real-time data on the movement of nitrate pollutants. Credit: Isaya Kisekka / UC Davis Extreme weather events caused by climate change, such as droughts and heavy rains, can increase the risk of nitrates from fertilizers entering groundwater, according to a recent study by…
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Environment
Fighting air pollution could affect soil carbon stocks and contribute to climate change
Distribution of study sites across the geographic range of northern hardwood forests in Michigan, USA. These locations were selected because of their similar flora and inflorescence characteristics. Credit: Ecology (2024). DOI: 10.1002/ecy.4444 Decades-old policies aimed at improving air quality may also be accelerating global climate change, a recent study published in the journal Ecology warns. For generations, atmospheric nitrogen pollution…
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Biology
Study finds increased leaching of dissolved organic carbon in soil in rubber plantations
Credit: Journal of Environmental Management (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.122965 Although rubber plantations bring significant economic benefits, large-scale rubber plantations have significant impacts on the ecological environment, especially in terms of soil physical and chemical properties. In a study published in the Journal of Environmental Management, researchers from the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) found that the conversion of tropical rainforests to…
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