Reduced accrual of mineral-associated organic matter after two years of enhanced rock weathering in cropland soils, though no net losses of soil organic carbon

Sokol, Noah W.; Sohng, Jaeeun; Moreland, Kimber; Slessarev, Eric; Goertzen, Heath; Schmidt, Radomir; Samaddar, Sandipan; Holzer, Iris; Almaraz, Maya; Geoghegan, Emily; Houlton, Benjamin; Montañez, Isabel; Pett-Ridge, Jennifer; Scow, Kate

doi:10.1007/s10533-024-01160-0

Reduced accrual of mineral-associated organic matter after two years of enhanced rock weathering in cropland soils, though no net losses of soil organic carbon

Journal Article · Tue Jul 23 00:00:00 EDT 2024 · Biogeochemistry (Online)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-024-01160-0· OSTI ID:2429762

^[1]; Sohng, Jaeeun ^[2]; Moreland, Kimber ^[3]; Slessarev, Eric ^[4]; Goertzen, Heath ^[2]; Schmidt, Radomir ^[2]; Samaddar, Sandipan ^[2]; Holzer, Iris ^[5]; Almaraz, Maya ^[6]; Geoghegan, Emily ^[7]; Houlton, Benjamin ^[7]; Montañez, Isabel ^[2]; Pett-Ridge, Jennifer ^[8]; Scow, Kate ^[2]

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States)
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA), Davis, CA (United States). California Climate Hub
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Yale Univ., New Haven, CT (United States)
Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States); Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA (United States)
Yale Univ., New Haven, CT (United States)
Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States)
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Univ. of California, Merced, CA (United States); Innovative Genomics Institute, Berkeley, CA (United States)

Enhanced rock weathering (ERW), the application of crushed silicate rock to soil, can remove atmospheric carbon dioxide by converting it to (bi) carbonate ions or solid carbonate minerals. However, few studies have empirically evaluated ERW in field settings. A critical question remains as to whether additions of crushed rock might positively or negatively affect soil organic matter (SOM)—Earth’s largest terrestrial organic carbon (C) pool and a massive reservoir of organic nitrogen (N). Here, in three irrigated cropland field trials in California, USA, we investigated the effect of crushed meta-basalt rock additions on different pools of soil organic carbon and nitrogen (i.e., mineral-associated organic matter, MAOM, and particulate organic matter, POM), active microbial biomass, and microbial community composition. After 2 years of crushed rock additions, MAOM stocks were lower in the upper surface soil (0–10 cm) of plots with crushed rock compared to unamended control plots. At the 2 sites where baseline pre-treatment data were available, neither total SOC nor SON decreased over the 2 years of study in plots with crushed rock or unamended control plots. However, the accrual rate of MAOM-C and MAOM-N at 0–10 cm was lower in plots with crushed rock vs. unamended controls. Before ERW is deployed at large scales, our results suggest that field trials should assess the effects of crushed rock on SOM pools, especially over multi-year time scales and in different environmental contexts, to accurately assess changes in net C and understand the mechanisms driving interactions between ERW and SOM cycling.

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Research Organization:: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Science (SC)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC52-07NA27344; 22-LW-022; 24-SI-002

OSTI ID:: 2429762

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 2447053

Report Number(s):: LLNL-JRNL-868662; 1104826

Journal Information:: Biogeochemistry (Online), Vol. 167, Issue 8; ISSN 1573-515X

Publisher:: SpringerCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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