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Soil Stories
2019
Soil, paper, wood, glass, corks

Soil contributes to clean air and water. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO-UN) estimates that our planet has "60 years of harvests remaining" if soil degradation from industrial agriculture continues at current rates. These soil samples were collected from the Great Plains to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. What geologists consider the core of North America, the Great Plains were formed when several continents collided. The plains were flooded twice by seas, and became an archive of extinct plants and animals, sediments and soils.
Soil is also a part of us. It tells stories. It's a time capsule of carbon, liquids, minerals and organisms that together support life. Soil is the foundation of every terrestrial ecosystem, yet because it is almost always underfoot, it is often overlooked and all too often underappreciated.