Earth Science Group

Research Proposals for 2002 - Group D

Soils:
Where do they come from, what do they consist of and how do they affect plant live

Background Information

Different parts of this country are made up of different rocks. These rocks weather in different ways and therefore produce soils of different mineralogy and composition.

Proposed research

Students will identify what the rocks are where they live (e.g. how old they are, how they formed, what minerals are in the rocks, what is the chemical composition of the rocks). This information will be related to the soils (e.g. minerals and composition of the soils). The students will then grow a plant in the different soils to see whether the plant grows differently in the various soils. Finally they will check, whether the plants take up certain minor and trace elements preferentially after "spiking" the soil with some elements. Furthermore a link to the weather and rainfall may be established.

Participants

• Dr. Puffy Soundy (Dept. Soil Science)
• Ms. Wiebke Grote (Dept. Geology)
• Dr. Sabine Verryn (Dept. Geology).
• Ms. Maggi Loubser (Dept. Geology)
• Prof Roland Merkle (Dept. Geology)
• and others