🚨From Air to Stone🚨
New study revealed that Kenyan fig trees can literally turn parts of themselves to stone, using microbes to convert internal crystals into limestone-like deposits that lock away CO2, sweeten surrounding soil & still yield fruit. #CarbonRemoval
DETAILS🧵1/8
New study revealed that Kenyan fig trees can literally turn parts of themselves to stone, using microbes to convert internal crystals into limestone-like deposits that lock away CO2, sweeten surrounding soil & still yield fruit. #CarbonRemoval
DETAILS🧵1/8
2/ Some Kenyan fig trees, like Ficus wakefieldii, store CO₂ not just as organic matter (wood/leaves) but also as calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) - the same mineral as chalk or limestone.
This process is called the oxalate-carbonate pathway (OCP).
This process is called the oxalate-carbonate pathway (OCP).
3/ PROCESS:
First, the tree forms calcium oxalate crystals inside its wood.
Then, special microbes (oxalotrophic microorganisms) or fungi convert these crystals into CaCO₃.
This locks up carbon in mineral form that can persist in soil far longer than organic carbon.
First, the tree forms calcium oxalate crystals inside its wood.
Then, special microbes (oxalotrophic microorganisms) or fungi convert these crystals into CaCO₃.
This locks up carbon in mineral form that can persist in soil far longer than organic carbon.
4/ The researchers from Kenya, Switzerland, Austria & the US found CaCO₃ both on the tree surface and deeper inside the trunks.
Using advanced synchrotron X-ray imaging, they mapped how and where the mineral forms.
Using advanced synchrotron X-ray imaging, they mapped how and where the mineral forms.
5/ This stone-like carbon storage does more than just trap CO₂:
- Makes soils less acidic (more alkaline)
-Improves nutrient availability
-Supports food security by still producing edible fruit
- Makes soils less acidic (more alkaline)
-Improves nutrient availability
-Supports food security by still producing edible fruit
6/ Ficus wakefieldii proved most effective at CO₂ mineralization among the three Kenyan fig species (Ficus natalensis and Ficus glumosa) studied.
Scientists now want to test how much CO₂ it can store under different conditions and whether it’s viable for agroforestry.
Scientists now want to test how much CO₂ it can store under different conditions and whether it’s viable for agroforestry.
7/ Researchers also noted that the OCP is an underexplored climate tool.
Other species, like the Iroko tree, can also do this, but few fruit trees have been tested.
More research could help us pick tree sp. feed people & store C in stone, where it is locked up for centuries.
Other species, like the Iroko tree, can also do this, but few fruit trees have been tested.
More research could help us pick tree sp. feed people & store C in stone, where it is locked up for centuries.
📝This discovery was presented at the Goldschmidt geochemistry conference in Prague. Read the abstract here:
🧵8/8 #CDR #CarbonRemovalconf.goldschmidt.info/goldschmidt/20…
🧵8/8 #CDR #CarbonRemovalconf.goldschmidt.info/goldschmidt/20…
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