Mysterious Amazon soil (Bio-char) What is Terra Preta soil?

Terra Preta is often referred to as Amazon fertile/dark/black/super soil or Indian black earth. In Portuguese, it is known as Terra Preta do Indio. It’s a highly fertile anthropologic (man-made) soil specific to the Amazon region created by Amazonian civilizations approximately 7000 years ago. They may or may not have realized the significance of adding biochar to the soil had such a positive effect on crop yields. Terra Preta is still present today and is even being mined as potting soil for sale in local markets.

This “circular living system” where the inert elements provide the perfect conditions for the mycorrhizal fungi and microorganisms to thrive. These promote amazing soil health, which in turn drives better plant health and crop yield above the ground.

Terra Preta soils are very different from the surrounding tropical soils. These are notoriously thin and nutrient-poor containing high levels of clay, silt, or sand.

Color and composition
Terra Preta has a characteristic dark color due to the black carbon/charcoal/biochar content incorporated in it. For the purposes of today’s context, it would have contained partially burnt wood, charcoal, biochar, and ash. We will refer to this as biochar (see differences here). During recent sampling, it was found to contain local brown soil (Terra Mulata*), biochar, and shards of pottery.
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