# How long will it take for the soil to be "full" of carbon?

* Increase in SOC is a relatively slow process
* Each year there is a cycle of decomposition as well as deposition.
* Soil's ability to sequester carbon is heavily influenced by soil type- soils with higher clay content will always be more responsive as their ability to capture carbon is much higher than soils of low clay content, particularly sandy soils.

  
  **EXAMPLE:**
* 1 ha of soil, 0-30 cms depth, bulk density of 1.18 = 3540 tonnes of soil.
* Average increase of SOC is 0.65 tonnes CO2 e per ha per year
* This equals 0.9 tonnes of SOM ha/year and increase of 0.03% of SOM per year
* Expected in 10 years to increase by 0.3% of SOC ( 0.5% SOM).

  

 ![](https://outline-production-attachments.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/uploads/ee7befcd-66b9-43b1-b9eb-0bf46273c5ca/5826cee8-ad6d-43c3-8c22-1d4b95d23fbe/Picture%204.png?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Content-Sha256=UNSIGNED-PAYLOAD&X-Amz-Credential=AKIA4EOUDTOVUICLPZ4P%2F20261101%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20261101T050000Z&X-Amz-Expires=86400&X-Amz-Signature=dcf7eff7048eca635c4042d804bee5a11b7c654c3b2599a74b73c3b30f509d01&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&x-amz-checksum-mode=ENABLED&x-id=GetObject)

*Source: Elizabeth Stockdale*

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**Documents**

- [What is soil?](https://eagronom.getoutline.com/s/96e3c8d3-79b7-4af0-89ec-a283ee06eb8b/doc/what-is-soil-gRuZM4zZR6)
- [Soil Microbes / Microbial Biomass < 5% soil mass](https://eagronom.getoutline.com/s/96e3c8d3-79b7-4af0-89ec-a283ee06eb8b/doc/soil-microbes-microbial-biomass-5-soil-mass-qg38xBHeSj)
- [Functions of the Microbial Biomass](https://eagronom.getoutline.com/s/96e3c8d3-79b7-4af0-89ec-a283ee06eb8b/doc/functions-of-the-microbial-biomass-TSEVOVTRuS)
- [What are SOM and SOC?](https://eagronom.getoutline.com/s/96e3c8d3-79b7-4af0-89ec-a283ee06eb8b/doc/what-are-som-and-soc-w0gOjdsBo2)
- [How to score your soil?](https://eagronom.getoutline.com/s/96e3c8d3-79b7-4af0-89ec-a283ee06eb8b/doc/how-to-score-your-soil-Oyv3RohGUy)
- [How to increase SOM?](https://eagronom.getoutline.com/s/96e3c8d3-79b7-4af0-89ec-a283ee06eb8b/doc/how-to-increase-som-YSKc4fav2d)
- [How to calculate from SOC % to t/ha?](https://eagronom.getoutline.com/s/96e3c8d3-79b7-4af0-89ec-a283ee06eb8b/doc/how-to-calculate-from-soc-to-tha-ccMWIj01CD)
- [How long will it take for the soil to be "full" of carbon?](https://eagronom.getoutline.com/s/96e3c8d3-79b7-4af0-89ec-a283ee06eb8b/doc/how-long-will-it-take-for-the-soil-to-be-full-of-carbon-IQ9NTVfbSY)
- [How to maintain the organic matter level in soil?](https://eagronom.getoutline.com/s/96e3c8d3-79b7-4af0-89ec-a283ee06eb8b/doc/how-to-maintain-the-organic-matter-level-in-soil-e4Tu2KRJUf)
- [Agronomical Benefits of increasing SOM](https://eagronom.getoutline.com/s/96e3c8d3-79b7-4af0-89ec-a283ee06eb8b/doc/agronomical-benefits-of-increasing-som-QZzWrYXd8d)
- [Choosing cover crops](https://eagronom.getoutline.com/s/96e3c8d3-79b7-4af0-89ec-a283ee06eb8b/doc/choosing-cover-crops-byZi137O0k)
- [Common cover crop species](https://eagronom.getoutline.com/s/96e3c8d3-79b7-4af0-89ec-a283ee06eb8b/doc/common-cover-crop-species-hjBpvpwnpF)
- [How to do cover crop mixes?](https://eagronom.getoutline.com/s/96e3c8d3-79b7-4af0-89ec-a283ee06eb8b/doc/how-to-do-cover-crop-mixes-3upeHsTZo1)
- [Establishment methods of cover crops](https://eagronom.getoutline.com/s/96e3c8d3-79b7-4af0-89ec-a283ee06eb8b/doc/establishment-methods-of-cover-crops-Ah2i9bkmxw)
- [Termination methods of cover crops](https://eagronom.getoutline.com/s/96e3c8d3-79b7-4af0-89ec-a283ee06eb8b/doc/termination-methods-of-cover-crops-JURSvNl1cr)
- [Residue management](https://eagronom.getoutline.com/s/96e3c8d3-79b7-4af0-89ec-a283ee06eb8b/doc/residue-management-rU53bPH69y)