Project Global: Ground


This exploration of our current day metropolitan condition as a system of systems deals with the crust of the Earth as a primary carrying capacitor of human activities, from the extraction of resources deep within the ground, to agricultural operations that barely scratch the surface.

Part 1: Lexicon

Part 2: Atlas

Part 3: Architectural Projects



Part 1: Lexicon index

︎ Formation

    ︎ Kaapvaal Craton
    ︎ Johannesburg Dome
    ︎ Vredefort Dome
    ︎ Topsoil
    ︎ Müggelsee


︎ Measurement    ︎ Schwerbelastungskörper
    ︎ Mining Earthquakes
    ︎ Low-tech Soil Testing
    ︎ Soil Texture Triangle
    ︎ Geologic Time Scale 
    ︎ Stratigraphic Colum
    ︎ Geographic Information System
    ︎ Ecotone
    ︎ Cultural Landscape

︎ Prototype
    ︎ Unter den Linden
    ︎ Zoological Landscape
    ︎ Counterculture
    ︎ Cultural Agency
    ︎ Mine-pit Lakes
    ︎ Parliament of Things

︎ Land distribution
    ︎ 1913 Natives Land Act
    ︎ District Six
    ︎ Eavesdropping
    ︎ Reconciliation Policy
    ︎ Land Grabbing
    ︎ Land Acting
    ︎ The Red Ants
    ︎ #PutSouthAfricansFirst
    ︎ Suburban Enclaves
    ︎ Parallel State

︎ Extraction
    ︎ Cullinan Diamond Mine
    ︎ Platinum Group Metals
    ︎ Zamazamas
    ︎ Gold Rush Inertia
    ︎ Sinkhole
    ︎ Maize Doctor
    ︎ Coal Hands

︎ Infrastructure
    ︎ Gautrain
    ︎ Le-guba
    ︎ Lesotho Water Project
    ︎ Deutscher Wald
    ︎ Arrival City

︎ Production
    ︎ Safari Economy
    ︎ Agritourism
    ︎ Rainfall Line
    ︎ Upington Airport
    ︎ Tiergarten Transformation
    ︎ Pivot Irrigation
    ︎ Allotment Garden
    ︎ Bokoni Terracing
    ︎ Johannesburg Forestation
    ︎ Game Farming Cycle

︎ Waste
    ︎ Trümmerberg
    ︎ Fab-Soil
    ︎ Mining Waste Belt
    ︎ Sanitary Landfilling
    ︎ Soil Structure
    ︎ Biogas Technology

︎ Pollution
    ︎ Dry Stacked Tailings
    ︎ Water Pollution
    ︎ Soil Pollution
    ︎ Uranium Sandstorms
    ︎ Poaching

︎ Remediation
    ︎ European Green Belt
    ︎ Conservation Agriculture
    ︎ Airfield Urbanism
    ︎ Solar Park
    ︎ Gold Reef City
    ︎ Mine Pit Lake
    ︎ Loess Plateau
    ︎ Erosion Control




Soil Structure

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Berlin snows about two months on average throughout the year. Therefore, a lot of de-icing salt is used for road snow removal. This de-icing salt causes chemical changes in soil, and adversely affects the health of street trees, placing third for most tree health degrading causes, next to climate change, and construction collateral damage. Trees in small soil pits are more likely to get damaged roots because the compacted soil causes salty runoff water to pool in the pit and percolate at low speed.1  Although tree roots grow by absorbing salt and other chemical mixtures, high concentrations of salt can kill the roots of trees, and low concentrations of salt interfere with the absorption of water and nutrients. As a result, trees slow in growth, and dry up. Street tree damage is relatively costly to carry out, and usually
        Berlin recorded unusually warm weather in 1981 and 1982.2 It was confirmed that street trees became healthier when de-icing salt was not used due to the small amount of snowfall. Since then, efforts have been made to reduce the use of de-icing salt, such as improving soil drainage, new de-icing mixes with abrasive sand and ash, new impermeable barriers between roads and street trees, and the introduction of alternative de-icing salt such as calcium chloride and calcium magnesium.3



Image source: Ordóñez-Barona, Camilo & Sabetskia, Vadim & Millward, Andrew, & Steenberg, James. De-icing salt contamination reduces urban tree performance in structural soil cells, March 2018, page 562-571


References
1.   James, Michel, How Road Salt and Stormwater Affects Tree Health, April 2018
https://www.deeproot.com/blog/blog-entries/how-road-salt-and-stormwater-affects-tree-health/
2.   Berlin Tegel Airport Temperature History in the Winter of 1981, 1981
https://weatherspark.com/h/s/148296/1981/3/Historical-Weather-Winter-1981-at-Berlin-Tegel-Airport-Germany#Figures-Temperature
3.   Very Good Tree Service, De-Icing Salt Can Harm Trees and Landscape Plants, January 2019
https://verygoodtreeservice.com/de-icing-salt-can-harm-trees-and-landscape-plants/