Solved cryptogram
The reason people farm beside volcanoes is that the ash breaks down into remarkable soil.
Earth Science Facts, sourced to U.S. Geological Survey.
Solve it yourself
This fact is a cryptogram here: 74 letters over 19 different ones, graded medium.
Or go to the puzzle’s own page first.
What it means
Volcanic ash is fresh rock, finely divided, loaded with the phosphorus, potassium and trace elements plants need, and it weathers fast because the particles are small. Within a few human generations it makes ground far richer than the surrounding countryside. So the settlements around Vesuvius, Merapi and the Rift Valley are not carelessness; they are a bargain, taking a reliable harvest against a rare catastrophe.
The claim comes from U.S. Geological Survey.
- SourceU.S. Geological Survey
- CollectionEarth Science Facts
- Difficultymedium
- Length74 letters, 19 of them different
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