Evolution of soil organic matter pools during Martian regolith terraforming, with a focus on organo-Fe (oxyhydr)oxide interactions
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The poor fertility of Martian regolith, due to its lack of organic matter (OM) and nitrogen (N), limits its suitability as a plant substrate. While compost amendment enhances short-term fertility, the mechanisms underlying long-term OM stabilization, particularly through interactions with iron (Fe) minerals, remain poorly understood. This study explores OM fractionation and Fe mineral transformations in Mojave Mars Simulant (MMS-1), both pure (R100) and amended with compost (R70C30), across two consecutive cropping cycles (potato followed by Vicia faba). Following Vicia faba cultivation, total C increased 12-fold in R70C30 (18.8 g kg -1 ) compared to R100 (1.6 g kg -1 ), with a 140 % increase in amended and 90 % in pure regolith relative to post-potato levels. Both particulate organic matter (POM) and mineral-associated organic matter (MAOM) also increased substantially: POM-C rose 7-fold, while MAOM-C increased by 947 %, suggesting the formation of organo-mineral complexes. MAOM also exhibited a 447 % rise in total N and the lowest C/N ratio (∼9), consistent with more microbially processed and stabilized OM. Fe speciation via Fe K-edge X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) revealed compost-driven enrichment of ferrihydrite and hematite, with distinct mineral profiles across POM and MAOM fractions. EXAFS further identified lepidocrocite and magnetite, phases undetected by XANES, highlighting the complementary role of…
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Ferrihydrite mediated exogenous organic matter stabilization in the regolith-based amended substrate (R70C30), while Fe(III)-organic matter complexes formed only in the sand-based growing medium (S70C30).
“these authors found that ferrihydrite mediated exogenous organic matter stabilization in the regolith-based amended substrate (R70C30), while they observed the formation of Fe(III)-organic matter complexes only in the sand-based growing medium (S70C30).”
From Fava bean plant performance and fertility dynamics in Mars regolith simulant-based substrates for space farming (2025) · cites this paper as Giannetta et al, (2025)
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Can Plants Grow on Mars and the Moon: A Growth Experiment on Mars and Moon Soil Simulants
Wamelink, G. W. W., Frissel, J. Y., Krijnen, W. H. J., Verwoert, M. R., & Goedhart, P. W. (2014) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0103138 · Cited by 201 · see citing works
Duri, L. G., Caporale, A. G., Rouphael, Y., Vingiani, S., Palladino, M., De Pascale, S., & Adamo, P. (2022) · Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences · doi:10.3389/fspas.2021.747821 · Cited by 107 · see citing works
Self-citationDuri, L. G., El-Nakhel, C., Caporale, A. G., Ciriello, M., Graziani, G., Pannico, A., Palladino, M., Ritieni, A., De Pascale, S., Vingiani, S., et al. (2020) · Plants · doi:10.3390/plants9050628 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Self-citationCaporale, A. G., Paradiso, R., Liuzzi, G., Palladino, M., Amitrano, C., Arena, C., Arouna, N., Verrillo, M., Cozzolino, V., De Pascale, S., et al. (2023) · Plant and Soil · doi:10.1007/s11104-022-05860-0 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
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Caporale, A. G., Paradiso, R., Arouna, N., Amitrano, C., Tagliamonte, S., Chiacchio, M. F., Vitaglione, P., De Pascale, S., & Adamo, P. (2025) · Frontiers in Plant Science · doi:10.3389/fpls.2025.1676285 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
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- Authors
- Giannetta, B., Caporale, A. G., Olivera de Souza, D., Adamo, P., & Zaccone, C.
- Affiliations
- University of Foggia (IT)
- University of Naples Federico II (IT)
- University of Verona (IT)
- Venue
- Environmental Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2025-11
- Volume
- 285
- Issue
- Pt 2
- Pages
- 122362
- ISSN
- 0013-9351 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4412447628
- Cited by
- 4
- References
- 4
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 1
- FWCI
- 1.99
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Environmental Research (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DESY Publication Database (PUBDB) (Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- German Electron-Synchrotron
- Carlos Chagas Filho Foundation for Research Support of Rio de Janeiro State (E-26/203.423/2023)
- Italian Space Agency
- Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca
- Università degli Studi di Verona
- Ministero dell'Università e della Ricerca
- Helmholtz Association
- European Commission (CUP F74I16000000005)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Agricultural Science and Fertilization
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Planetary Science and Exploration
- Keywords
- Martian regolith, terraforming, soil organic matter stabilization, organo-mineral complexes, iron oxyhydroxide, compost application, particulate organic matter, mineral-associated organic matter, ferrihydrite, hematite, lepidocrocite, magnetite, Fabaceae, Vicia faba, potato, nitrogen addition, in-situ resource utilization, space agriculture, soil fertility
- MeSH terms
- Composting, Ferric Compounds, Soil, Mars
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