Glacial Rock Flour

Glacial Rock Flour (GRF)

Glacial Rock Flour is rock that has been crushed over millennia by the ice sheet and glaciers in Greenland. Glacial Rock Flour has thus become a very fine-grained mass that, depending on either it is wet or dry, has a consistency like mud or a more solid form.

Glacial Rock Flour is a fine-grained material and provides a lot of benefits for the agriculture.

The whole of Greenland was previously covered by ice, which is why Glacial Rock Flour can be found on land in many places in the country. At the bottom of fjords with glaciers, Glacial Rock Flour is also found in the water.

Rich in minerals

Glacial Rock Flour is rich in minerals that can be used in agriculture. Precisely because the mass is very fine-grained, plants and crops can absorb the minerals and grow further.

Read more about the research from the University of Copenhagen at Centre for Clacial Rock Flour Research.

The recognized and world-renowned professor of geology at the University of Copenhagen, Minik Rosing has been in lead of the last several years of research and is the head of Centre for Glacial Rock Flour Research.

Data about Glacial Rock Flour

  • Chemical and physical properties of the RF:
    pHwater 8.3
    P2O5 1.1 mg g–1.
    K2O 28.7 mg g–1
    MgO 26.4 mg g–1
    S 1 mg g–1
    CaO 37.1 mg g–1
    Fe2O3 52.0 mg g–1
    MnO 7 mg g–1
    Cl 0.335 mg g–1, SiO2 627.6 mg g–1
    Al2O3 157.1 mg g–1, Na2O 38.1 mg g–1
    TiO2 4.9 mg g–1
  • Particle size:
    50% of particles < 9.8 mm
    90% of particles < 40.8 mm
    Surface area 0.52 m–2 g–1
  • Our findings suggest that there is a strong potential for using Glacial Rock Flour as a K and Mg source in agricultural systems where there is lack of these nutrients and where conventional chemical fertilizers are either not available or not desired (i.e., certified organic farming). A significant increase in biomass was observed when Glacial Rock Flour served as the sole source of K in both the sand and the soil mixture
  • The climate and environment benefits to a better exploitation of Phosphor and Nitrogen in the treated soil
  • World wide production of Nitrogen deduces 2-3% of all Co2 emissions. However Nitrogen can be produced by green zero emission energy.