Could Greenlandic sediment hold the key to a more sustainable and equitable future for agriculture?

The documentary “Magic Mud” follows Greenlandic geologist Minik Rosing and his team on their research journey to answer this question.

DIS hosted a screening of the documentary at Cinemateket, the Danish National Film Institute, for DIS students and faculty, as well as a Q&A panel afterwards featuring stars of the documentary as well as its director.

Read below for Nell’s experience attending the Academic Seminar Night and for details of the science behind the documentary.

DIS students and faculty filled the Danish Film Institute for a Wednesday evening Academic Seminar Night.

Many in the crowd arrived straight from their Field Studies; some had been exploring the protected nature reserve of Amager Fælled, while others spent their afternoon collecting soil samples.

But here everyone gathered for the same event, a screening of the documentary “Magic Mud” followed by a Q&A panel featuring the director and several characters from the film. 

“It has taken more than half a year to organize this exciting event,” said Astrid Schmidt, DIS faculty in the Enviornmental Science of the Arctic program. “We were not sure Professor Minik Rosing would be able to make it for the screening. He is a super busy and sought-after researcher, so we felt very fortunate that he was able to join us for the Q&A session.”

This “magic mud,” called glacial rock flour, doesn’t look like anything special, just a dull-gray muddy deposit. But this substance, a natural product of erosion created as the Greenland Ice Sheet very slowly grinds bedrock into a fine powder, holds huge potential benefits when it is introduced into agricultural soils. 

The mud’s magic comes from its incorporation into agricultural soils, which has two primary outcomes. 

First, it appears the rock flour is able to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide through a process known as enhanced mineral weathering, where dissolved CO2 is converted into compounds with a lower risk of returning to the atmosphere as greenhouse gases, thus effectively sequestering carbon.  

Rosing’s research has found that rock flour is capable of capturing up to 25% of its weight in CO2 when it is brought out of Greenland and into warmer climates, where it can more efficiently react with airborne carbon.  

Not only this, but the rock flour also acts as a highly effective fertilizer, especially in soils with depleted nutrients, due to its high concentrations of potassium, phosphorus, and other micronutrients.

Rosing is particularly interested in the inequities that exist in agricultural soil qualities across the globe. Soils in Denmark and America produce, on average, 20-30% higher crop yields than the less-nutrient dense soils in tropical climates.

Rosing hopes that by introducing the glacial rock flour to these tropical soils as a natural fertilizer, the Arctic sediments will improve tropical agricultural yields and improve economic inequality. 

“We see in the documentary, his team has seen failure after failure…
That’s something that is often neglected [in research], failure is required to succeed.”

Sebastian Zastruzny, DIS Faculty

Hurdles from research to industry 

Throughout the documentary, Rosing and his research team face a variety of challenges and setbacks, from miscommunication and bureaucratic hurdles to a beetle infestation derailing a field experiment. 

“I think Rosing is a great example for researchers because he hasn’t just seen success,” said Sebastian Zastruzny, a DIS faculty member who teaches courses in environmental science.  

“We see in the documentary, his team has seen failure after failure, because that is all part of the learning process. That’s something that is often neglected, but failure is required to succeed.” 

The documentary ends positively, with the team achieving successful results that showcase the rock flour’s ability to capture carbon while also increasing crop yield, but it also asks the question, what next?  

In the documentary and during the panel, Rosing spoke to the fact that glacial rock flour has a huge commercial potential and that it could be marketed around the world, both as a way for countries with agricultural emission standards to decrease their CO2 levels, and also for countries with nutrient-poor fields to rejuvenate their agricultural sectors.  

However, Rosing also admits, there are still plenty of hurdles to face. Rock Flour Company, co-founded by Rosing in 2023, is working with the Greenlandic government on securing permits to harvest and export the rock flour, but the process is slow and complex. 

But Rosing, and the rest of the Rock Flour Company, remain optimistic. During the panel they estimated that they could have the required permitting within the next two years. 

Many were curious to bring in their own academic interests and backgrounds and there was also room for skepticism, particularly around the impact that large-scale extraction of rock flour could have on Greenland’s environment and its local population.  

One of those who asked a question, Jonluke (University of Delaware), said that he was curious whether Greenland had the infrastructure necessary to scale this research into a large enough business to make a significant impact. 

“I’m interested in this sort of research, where you take things from the theoretical to the tangible,” he said. “It is nice to talk about things in the theoretical, but actually getting things to market kills a lot of interesting products.” 

Others came away feeling excited about this as an example of how entrepreneurship can be used to build more sustainable outcomes.

“I like people who are creating business solutions that help the environment. These entrepreneurial minds are using it for good,” said Pauline (Olin College of Engineering).

“Seeing this mud as a way to decrease CO2 in our atmosphere through the soil while also helping something like world hunger, it is super inspiring.” 

My own DIS Core Course, Ice Cores and Ice Ages, will soon travel on Study Tour to visit Greenland, so “Magic Mud” served as a primer and introduction to the country. During our class the day after the screening, discussion continued as my classmates shared their perspectives and takeaways from the event.  

“Seeing this mud as a way to decrease CO2 in our atmosphere thorugh the soil, while also helping something like world hunger,
it is super inspiring.”

Pauline, Olin College of Engineering