WCL (Wet Chemistry Lab) sample |
WCL (Wet Chemistry Lab) sample |
Jun 25 2008, 12:18 AM
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Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 2785 Joined: 10-November 06 From: Pasadena, CA Member No.: 1345 |
We'll soon know what kinds of crops we can grow on Mars! Bonus, the fruits will be already freeze-dried!
Handy list of preferred pH's of common garden plants. -Mike -------------------- Some higher resolution images available at my photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31678681@N07/
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Jun 27 2008, 01:39 PM
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#2
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Member Group: Members Posts: 524 Joined: 24-November 04 From: Heraklion, GR. Member No.: 112 |
Just to clarify things I wrote earlier in this thread: the fact that the pH of the first soil sample was 8-9, i.e. slightly basic, does not mean that the main salts present are carbonates, phosphates or whatever other "weak acid" anions. The first results from the team, also mentioned in the nice sum up in Emily's blog, show they found Na+, Ca+, K+, and Cl-, and are currently measuring the levels of sulfates, SO4--
Combinations of the above ions form salts where both ions are very soluble in water, and thus, do not alter the original pH of the water brought from earth, which was 7, although they might be the main salts in the soil concentration-wise. Basic salts could be just a very small proportion, or even absent if martian basaltic silicate minerals in sand have a slight alkaline pH, as mentioned by D. Burt. |
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