A healthy soil produces healthy crops (click here) minimal amounts of external inputs and few to no adverse ecological effects. It contains favorable biological, physical and chemical properties.
Here is the complexity of this issue. On one hand soil can be a great carbon sink. It has processes that welcomes excessive greenhouse gases. There is a study that states carbon dioxide can be incorporated to deeper layers of soil by plowing deeper and exposing the deep soil to air.
In the picture to the left is a multi-bottom plow. When examined closely the plows are deep into the soil and turning it over to expose that precious and important organic layer. This soil, with this plowing technique is maximally exposed to the troposphere and it's greenhouse gas concentration. That concentration will cause an osmotic effect and bring greenhouse gases into the soil.
A biologically healthy soil harbors a multitude of different organisms — microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, amoebae and paramecia, as well as larger organisms like nematodes, springtails, insect larvae, ants, earthworms and ground beetles. Most are helpful to plants, enhancing the availability of nutrients and producing chemicals that stimulate plant growth...
- Breaking down litter and cycling nutrient
- Converting atmospheric nitrogen into organic forms and reconverting organic nitrogen into inorganic forms that plants can use
Nitrogen is the reason the sky of Earth is blue. It disseminates white light into a blue color. The majority of Earth's troposphere is below.
Nitrogen – 78 percent.
Oxygen – 21 percent.
Argon – 0.93 percent.
Carbon dioxide – 0.038 percent.
Nitrogen molecules (N2) are extremely stable. So soil absorbs the N2 and breaks it down to a usable for for plants. Nitrogen is important in plant growth and health. There is actually a nitrogen cycle (see left and click here). Now, displace some of the nitrogen with greenhouse gases. There is no nitrogen in CO2.
That is the real issue. While it is convenient to expose soils to air to absorb greenhouse gases, it also creates a faux cycle in the soil and it can effect plants.
To the left is an example of a plow outside the job it is employed for; the plows come out of the ground just as shiny as if they were new. The work of plowing causes a great deal of friction between the soil and the plow face. The soil literally polishes that metal surface. The pointy end of the plow goes into the ground first and with the shape and size of the face of the plow; it is determined as to the outcome of the effort.
- Synthesizing enzymes, vitamins, hormones and other important substances
- Altering soil structuren Eating and/or decomposing weed seeds
- Suppressing and/or feeding on soil-borne plant pathogens and plant-parasitic nematodes
So while soil is a convenient place to store greenhouse gases, it is hardly a good idea. But, desperate scientists trying to find resolve of the issues see soil as a real carbon sink.
