Carbon Storage: How Does Soil Store CO2?
Wednesday, January 8, 2014 - 12:31
in Physics & Chemistry
We hear a lot about carbon storage and the impact on the atmosphere if CO2 is release during warming, but how does that work? Carbon is not evenly distributed in soil, instead the kinds of carbon hot spots that matter are found on about 20 percent of mineral surfaces, according to a new paper. Studies have established that carbon binds to tiny mineral particles and in a new paper researchers show that the surface of the minerals plays just as important a role as their size. "The carbon binds to minerals that are just a few thousandths of a millimeter in size – and it accumulates there almost exclusively on rough and angular surfaces," explains Prof. Ingrid Kögel-Knabner, Technische Universitaet Muenchen read more