Linking the field and the atomic scales: Soft x-ray spectroscopy of soil chemical processes

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Several of the grand challenges facing science today involve being able to better manage Earth's soil resources: Feeding 9 Billion people sustainably via intensification of agriculture, preserving our water resources in the face of a changing climate, effectively restoring and rehabilitating damaged ecosystems for future use, and becoming more efficient at the stewardship of nutrients required for living things. Researchers are increasingly turning to synchrotrons as tools to provide a molecular-level understanding of processes occurring in soils and plants to assist in solving these complex problems. In this proposal, we would develop the necessary tools to extend soft x-ray spectroscopy to understand the elements of life (C, N, O, P, S, Ca, Mg, Fe, Cu, Zn) in soil samples.******We have two major objectives in this proposal. The first is to fully develop a novel soft x-ray approach, Excitation-Emission Matrix Spectroscopy, to provide wide energy high throughput screening of soil samples. If successful, then synchrotrons would be able to interface with ecological researchers in a more meaningful way by running statistically significant numbers of samples. The second objective is to investigate some of the implications for the newly accepted soil continuum model for how soil organic carbon forms and behaves in natural systems.