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Updated: Mar 14, 2026

Monitoring Pedogenic Inorganic Carbon Accumulation Due to Weathering of Amended Silicate Minerals in Agricultural Soils.
Published on: June 4, 2021
Testing the ability of plants to access potassium from framework silicate minerals
David A C Manning1, Joana Baptista1, Mallely Sanchez Limon2
1School of Civil Engineering & Geosciences, Newcastle University, NE1 7RU, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Abstract:
The availability of K, essential for plant growth, from syenite (a silicate rock in which potassium feldspar is the dominant mineral; >90wt%), and phlogopite mica has been demonstrated using carefully designed plant growth pot experiments in which the only added source of K was the mineral of interest, with no loss of nutrients through drainage. Using pure quartz sand as a soil, both growth (increase in diameter) of leek plants and K-content of the plant material showed a dose-dependent positive response to the application (114-43000mgK/pot) of milled syenite with increases in plant diameter of 0.5-0.7mm/week, increasing with application rate. Phlogopite mica (114-6000mgK/pot) supported the highest observed increase in diameter (approx. 1mm/week) and plant K-content, both similar to that observed for a positive control (KCl). These experiments demonstrate that plants can obtain K for growth from milled syenite, in which feldspar is the dominant K-bearing mineral, and confirm previous observations that micas can be an effective source of K.
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