Buried Fossil Soils Contain Rich Carbon According to New Study

A new study finds that buried fossil soils contain rich carbon. Soils that formed thousands of years ago have been found to contain rich amounts of carbon which adds a major factor in Earth’s carbon cycle and climate change.

Buried Fossil Soils Contain Rich Carbon According to New Study â€" photo from Wikipedia

The study, led by author and University of Wisconsin-Madison assistant professor of geography Erika Marin-Spiotta, was supported by both the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and the National Science Foundation. According to Marin-Spiotta:

“It was assumed that there was little carbon in deeper soils. Most studies are done in only the top 30 centimeters. Our study is showing that we are potentially grossly underestimating carbon in soils. Most of the carbon (in the Brady soil) was fire derived or black carbon. It looks like there was an incredible amount of fire.”

Known as Brady Soil, Marin-Spiotta and her colleagues studied the 15,000-year-old soil located in the Great Plains of Nebraska and Kansas. The research found that this particular soil went through dramatic changes during the time glaciers were melting in the Northern Hemisphere which sparked a shift in the climate. This change left an extreme amount of wildfire that resulted in the carbon being trapped in the soil.

Also notable in the study by Marin-Spiotta’s team is the organic matter that was found from ancient plants. The burial from windborn dust called loess helped isolate the soil from outside biological processes that would have decomposed the organic matter and break down the carbon.

Researchers state that these buried soils are common and widespread and that these findings are significant as the study suggests that these trapped pockets of carbon contribute greatly to the global climate change. The study can be found in the Nature Geoscience journal.

Buried Fossil Soils Contain Rich Carbon According to New Study.