Our Environment
Do you remember when you learned about igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks in Geography? Basalt is a volcanic rock made when lava extrudes onto the Earth's surface and cools quickly; basalt is the most common rock on the Earth's surface. Newcastle University carried out a study into basalt rock powder; in a trial at Nafferton Farm, Stocksfield researchers found that basalt powder offered a potential crop increase with the yield up by 22% while helping to capture carbon.
Farmers are being given the fertiliser free of charge to encourage the take up of the powder. UNDO ( powder manufacturer) gives the powder in exchange for carbon credits (which it then sells on to generate income). Since many places in the U.K, including Northumberland , are rich in igneous rocks (eg the Great Whin Sill), it is plentiful and easily accessible as a quarrying by-product.
The basalt is ground into a powder which sucks up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during rainfall; water and volcanic rock powder reacts to form carbonates which are washed into the sea and the carbon is stored in the oceans( see last month's environment page); this process is called enhanced rock weathering.
So the experiment begun locally in 2021 shows the rock powder combines carbon capture ability with fertilising properties- which suggests it is realistic to use the basalt powder on farms.
WIN! WIN!
WHERE AM I?
Last month, on a journey south on the A1 we were diverted off near Boroughbridge and onto a country road. It is well worth a quick exit off the A1 to see these three standing stones called the Devil's Arrows. The menhirs are 4,000 years old and date back to late Neolithic or early Bronze age. How did early man move these huge rocks?
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Amanda
Our Environment Archive
If you are interested in reading the Environment notes from 2018-2024,
please get in touch with Maureen
