Symphony of the Soil, An Artistic Examination of Our Relationship With Soil (2014)
Filmmaker, Deborah Koons Garcia (US)
The pictures and most of the text are sourced from the film
Symphony of the Soil, (beginning of the film).
Soil is the interface between biology and geology: the living skin of the earth. When walking on soil, we are walking over several strata of prehistoric soil present 40 inches below.
This image represents clay (a finely-grained natural
rock), which does not include any organic element, 'it really is the beginning of soil' and it starts with rocks, also called the lithosphere
This image represents Sphagnum moss (peat moss), which accumulated carbon by photosynthesis, 300 millions years ago. It holds mammoths 'like in a huge refrigerator without decomposing...it produces acid that keep things from decomposing'. It does not include ' any mineral, no rock, no clay, no sand. It is just living things expanding on themselves, so that it is completely biological.'
Sand is the third element of soil. Sand is composed of finely divided
rock and
mineral particles.
Soils can be tens of thousands of years old. They have accumulated nitrogen from the atmosphere among other nutrients essential to plants. Nitrogen is a component of chlorophyll and therefore essential for photosynthesis. It is also the basic element of plant and animal proteins, including the genetic material DNA and RNA, and is important in periods of rapid growth. Plants use nitrogen by absorbing either nitrate or ammonium ions through the roots.
Soils have parents. Soils form from materials that are in a particular location. Transported parent material can come with the wind, or be transported by water that overflows (alluvium). Parent soils that are not transported form in one place, from the exposed rocks in place after a million years. Those types of soils take a very long time to form. There is an incredibly broad diversity of soils on the planet and consequently an equally rich diversity of plant communities found in forest soils (Alfisol), prairie soils ( Mollisol), baby soil is called Entisol, young soil is Enceptisol, old soil is called Ultisol, tropical soil is Oxisol, volcanic soil is Andisol, wetland soil is Histosol, clay soil is Vertisol, permafrost soil is Gelisol, desert soil is Aridosol.
The empty spaces in soil are called pores. They are filled with air, water vapor and a little bit of water.
It is in the pores that living organisms develop. It is that small fraction of the soil which keeps nutrients flowing, regulate and drives the function of the soil and therefore the functioning of the whole ecosystem. It is a living thing, this is what its biodiversity can look like, next picture below.
When carbon dioxide in the air is captured by plants' photosynthesis process and transformed into carbohydrates, it feeds and form the million organisms of the soil. So the roots of the plants are sending out food to the micro-organisms. This is called an exudate. Its purpose is to grow bacteria and fungi; a million bacteria per teaspoon around the root system of the plant.
The plant is sending out sugars, protein and carbohydrate. In a healthy soil, micro-organisms fed by the plant grow and protect the plant root system from diseases
Drawing from ancient knowledge and cutting-edge science, SYMPHONY OF THE SOIL is an artistic exploration of the miraculous substance: soil.
By understanding the elaborate relationships and mutuality between soil, water, the atmosphere, plants and animals, we come to appreciate the complex and dynamic nature of this precious resource. The film also examines our human relationship with soil, the use and misuse of soil in agriculture, deforestation and development, and the latest scientific research on soil's key role in ameliorating the most challenging environmental issues of our time.
Filmed on four continents and featuring esteemed scientists and working farmers and ranchers, SYMPHONY OF THE SOIL is an intriguing presentation that highlights possibilities of healthy soil to create healthy plants for healthy humans who live on a healthy planet.
Deborah Koons Garcia has a Master of Fine Arts from The San Francisco Art Institute. She has made fiction, educational and documentary films. She owns her own production company in the Bay Area of California. For the last ten years, she has focused primarily on films about agriculture and the food system.
Source: http://www.symphonyofthesoil.com/the-films/filmmakers/
