[Terrapreta] Increase of TP soils in the Amazon.

[Mary Lehmann]

Dear Lou-

  Kevin says "Didn't you [Lou] post an article on your Blogsite  
showing how Terra Preta actually "grows"? The article was about  
Brazilians who harvest TP for sale elsewhere. The article clearly  
noted that they find that vegetation that falls into depressions and  
low lying areas is converted to TP for harvesting about 20 years later."

 From other reading I gathered that the soil next to the terra preta  
turned into terra preta after 20 years.  I think the people to  
consult as to what really happens are the people who have collected  
Terra Preta over the years.  Do scientists have any data on this?   
Could there be such a thing as spontaneous charring, either due to a  
strange property of plants or microbes in a particular environment?

That research should continue, but for practical reasons, developing  
a list of people experienced in charring that collects the byproducts  
to recycle for fuel, and getting those people setting up and keeping  
continuous projects going, like cities' charring their waste, should  
be the first order of business.   Be guided by the fact that we are  
in a fight against Time.  We should be getting governments at all  
levels to learn about, to finance, and to develop charring operations  
as soon as we can.  We'll have to learn as we go.

LATER:  It occurs to me that if the energy crisis is met by making  
changes in our culture that are basic enough, like having free but  
limited energy rationing per capita -as M.K. Hubbert suggested and  
Britain is now considering, people will want to cut energy  
consumption  and develop small scale charring for their vegetable  
gardens just to survive.  Should we  be giving more attention to  
explaining to people how they may experience greater hardships to  
come, and the value of Terra Preta then?

  Meanwhile, is the structure of this list still simple or divided  
into topics?
Mary Lehmann
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On May 29, 2008, at 10:03 AM, lou gold wrote:

> I understand your logic Kevin but it's all in your mind.
> No one has yet found anything in the Amazon basin to confirm your  
> suspicion. At least I know of nothing that has been published to  
> that effect. That's the best response I can give for your question  
> [whether TP was naturally occurring as well as man-made].
>
> hugs,
>
> lou
>

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> -- 
> h


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