New study: Evidence of short-term soil water benefits from enhanced rock weathering

Enhanced rock weathering is a promising decarbonization strategy where carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere and stored as inorganic carbon in soils amended with crushed rocks like metabasalt and olivine. But, how do these crushed rocks change soil physical properties w/ and w/o other amendments like biochar and compost? A new study led by Sarah Costanzo (as an undergrad researcher!) demonstrated that “rock-amended soils exhibited greater aggregate stability, up to 400% greater hydraulic conductivity, and up to 21% lower penetration resistance following 3 years of repeated application, with no changes in texture or plant-available water.” Check out the article in Agricultural and Environmental Letters here!