GEO3510 Fertilizers

Fertilizers

Compounds added to soils to increase their fertility

Fertilizer elements are either…

Scarce in the environment, easily depleted, or both

What are the 3 most common and widely used fertilizer elements?

Nitrogen

Phosphorous

Potassium

Nitrates, like most fertilizers, were originally applied as…

manure

The world’s first global fertilizer market was created after what?

The discovery of guano deposits(bird poop) off the coast of Peru

When the Guano Islands began to be depleted, interest shifted to…

Nitrate deposits in the northern Chile coast

To protect the nitrate industry along the Peruvian and Bolivian coast…

Peru nationalized all nitrate mines and Bolivia imposed taxes on the major railways

In response to the economic actions of Peru and Bolivia, Chile…

Went to war against Peru and Bolivia

What was the war between Peru, Bolivia, and Chile called?

The war of the Pacific

Who had the best navy in the War of the Pacific?

Chile

Who fought on the land rather than on the seas in the War of the Pacific?

Bolivia

When were the final treaties of the War of the Pacific signed?

1884

What were the consequences of the War of the Pacific?

Chile gained control of the nitrate deposits and Peru and Bolivia lose their provinces

How active are the Chilean nitrate deposits?

not at all

How is nitrate obtained today?

From atmospheric nitrogen through the Harber-Bosch process