Guano ( Spanish: guano from Quechua wanu ) - naturally decomposed remains of litter of seabirds and bats . It contains a significant proportion of nitrogen compounds (about 9% ammonia ) and phosphorus (about 13% P 2 O 5 ). It is used as nitrogen-phosphorus fertilizer . Significant deposits of guano are found in South America ( Peru , Bolivia ), South Africa (for example, the island of Ichabo off the coast of Namibia ), on the islands of the Pacific Ocean .
The term guano is also used in relation to fertilizers from garbage from fisheries and hunting.
Guanine was first isolated from guano, hence its name.
Content
History
In 1553, guano was first mentioned in the literature - in the book " Chronicle of Peru " by Pedro Cesa de Leon :
Next lie the rich valleys of Tarapaca. In the area of these valleys near the sea there are islands dotted with sea lions. Local residents are transported to them on balsa rafts, bringing a lot of bird droppings from the tops of the mountains on them to fertilize their corn fields and other plants; they consider it so useful that the land from it becomes very greasy and fertile, even if they sow barren soil, because if they stop throwing this litter, they will collect a little maize . They could not eat if the birds in the mountains of the above-mentioned islands did not leave him; collected litter is very much appreciated, so much so that they trade it with each other as a valuable thing.
- Cieza de Leon, Pedro. Chronicle of Peru. Part one. Chapter LXXV. [one]
Notes
- ↑ Pedro Cieza de Leon. Chronicle of Peru. Part one. . www.kuprienko.info (A. Skromnitsky) (July 24, 2008). Date of treatment November 17, 2012. Archived July 9, 2012.
See also
- Guano law
Literature
- Kannonnikov I.I. , Mendeleev D.I. , Sobichevsky V.T. Guano // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.