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 39 slow decomposition DHJanzen101171.jpg high resolution
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| A musk ox skull on 9 July on Devon Island says much about the decomposition rate in the arctic. Dead for at least ten years and bleached and weathered, it would still make a good museum specimen - a cow or horse skull left to the elements in Costa Rica would be returned to basic minerals in 6-18 months, depending on whether it died in the dry or the wet season. If the snow does melt at such a site of death, the plants on-site will show more lush growth (due to both released nitrogen and minerals) for easily 10-30 years (recall the skua nest above), whereas all traces of such an event are erased in a tropical site within two growing seasons - owing to the multitude of kinds of biological biodegredation processes as well as the constant leaching from warm rainwater. | ||
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