ADVANCE Fellows Award: Potential Soil Inorganic Carbon Sequestration as a Result of Cultivation in Mollisols

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This ADVANCE Fellowship will focus on soil inorganic carbon storage in Mollisols, which are among the most important agricultural soils in the world. Cultivation of these fertile soils leads to great soil organic carbon loss but the effect of cultivation on soil inorganic carbon storage has not been studied. Attempts to decrease the atmospheric CO2 concentration require understanding of soil inorganic carbon and its role in potential sequestration of carbon through pedogenic carbonate formation in different soils, especially soils of great agricultural importance like Mollisols. This research will: (1) study the mechanisms of pedogenic carbonate formation and (2) examine the effects of cultivation on soil inorganic carbon storage. Research on soil inorganic carbon is crucial in understanding global carbon cycle and its relation to global climate change.