I suppose a lot depends on how windy and rainy it is. I’ve seen a ploughed field on a steep hill near here lose enough topsoil to block a road in just a night. One field’s loss was another field’s gain.
It usually ends up in rivers and streams pretty quickly, which is partly why "no till", good tree cover, rewilding, cover crops etc are all important - they fix soils and protect them against wind, rain, erosion, flooding, landslides, not to mention building development.
Soils are a result of hundreds of millions of years of geological processes - volanic, sedimentary, glacial, fluvial - crushing, pressing, eroding, life living and dying (limestones, chalk), sands weathering, mountains being thrust up and wearing down.
The pivotal point was 'If it were needed'. Which it isn't, but if it were then grit and sand from stone is readily available from quarries as it's a by-product of mining. I'm not saying we should make soil, I'm saying we could if needed. Anyone with an IQ of more than 10 could see that.
The pivotal point was 'If it were needed'. Which it isn't, but if it were then grit and sand from stone is readily available from quarries as it's a by-product of mining. I'm not saying we should make soil, I'm saying we could if needed. Anyone with an IQ of more than 10 could see that.
And of course mining and quarrying does no damage to the environment and stone is an inexhaustible and renewable resource ... 😶
And what are you suggesting we should carry on mining ............. coal? uranium? 😱
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Depends where you are. In Cornwall, most of a field's loss is in in the sea in hours. In Derbyshire, it reaches the Dove, and then the Trent, an then a bit longrer into the sea. In Norfolk, not enough rain, it just blows away.
location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand. "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
If it were needed, why can't we make it? We have all the ingredients to hand surely.
No.. all you'd end up with is a very fine superficial material - in the case of sandstone or gritstone - crushed rock essentially. Generally speaking, igneous rock is just too hard (it makes great railway ballast) although quarry 'tailings' can be a useful addition to topsoil. Neither can you "make" clay which primarily is a result of chemical weathering of siliceous rock (shale or mudstone for example)
Soil is a result of thousands of years weathering primarily due the action of water..See below..
Soils are a result of hundreds of millions of years of geological processes - volcanic, sedimentary, glacial, fluvial - crushing, pressing, eroding, life living and dying (limestones, chalk), sands weathering, mountains being thrust up and wearing down.
Posts
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I'm not saying we should make soil, I'm saying we could if needed. Anyone with an IQ of more than 10 could see that.
And what are you suggesting we should carry on mining ............. coal? uranium? 😱
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."