Lunar soil, is it good for plants?

Dominic-Luc Webb wrote:
Several responses have returned now and looking around, I
think Fly-ash looks OK, but the JSC-1 soil described by
McKay et al seems to be the best bet. They describe it as
available at cost of shipping to qualified investigators.
I will contact them and see if they regard me as qualified
to receive their "JSC-1 Lunar soil simulant"...

http://ares.jsc.nasa.gov/HumanExplor...CS/EIC050.HTML

Fascinating link. Well spotted !

There is more Iron in this lunar soil simulant than I expected.

Steve

http://ares.jsc.nasa.gov/HumanExplor...CS/EIC050.HTML

Fascinating link. Well spotted !

There is more Iron in this lunar soil simulant than I expected.

Steve



The iron content is alarming from biological point of view. Iron
has physiological role in plants and animals. However, please note
that it is in FeO and Fe2O3 forms that together give about 11 Wt%
whereas the Lunar soil only has FeO, but this is also about 11%.
The total iron content is in fact comparable. Note that Mg and
others of biological importance are also comparable.

Finally, please note the heavy metal contents. These could be a
lot more problematic because plants can accumulate these and
some can be outright toxic to mammals, including humans, and
high levels. I am concerned about the Cs, U and Th values, for
instance, but do not know what a good quality argicultural soil
would contain for comparison.

Dominic-Luc Webb
near Uppsala Sweden

Dominic-Luc Webb wrote:


The iron content is alarming from biological point of view. Iron
has physiological role in plants and animals. However, please note
that it is in FeO and Fe2O3 forms that together give about 11 Wt%
whereas the Lunar soil only has FeO, but this is also about 11%.
The total iron content is in fact comparable. Note that Mg and
others of biological importance are also comparable.

Finally, please note the heavy metal contents. These could be a
lot more problematic because plants can accumulate these and
some can be outright toxic to mammals, including humans, and
high levels. I am concerned about the Cs, U and Th values, for
instance, but do not know what a good quality argicultural soil
would contain for comparison.

Granted, but considering that volcanic "soil" is considered extremely
fertile indeed, it must be doing something right ! I don't recall any
warnings about food produced in Naples, or Sicily for example.

Steve

Granted, but considering that volcanic "soil" is considered extremely
fertile indeed, it must be doing something right ! I don't recall any
warnings about food produced in Naples, or Sicily for example.

Steve


This needs to get examined in more detail. As we here in Sweden
know too painfully well, plants grow very well here after
Chernobyl, but were not always fit for human consumption due
to accummulation of radioactive minerals (Cesium). The soil
is fertile indeed, in some cases, even more fertile than before.
I think a thorough analysis is required here.

Dominic