The wood burning engine is carbon neutral over a hundred year period as all carbon emitted by the engine would have been released by the slow natural decomposition of the tree anyway.

Much of the complex character of aged vintage port comes from the continued slow decomposition of grape solids in each bottle.

This slow decomposition also takes place underwater, however there are reports of the material becoming pyrophoric if dried.

That slow, partial decomposition is usually accelerated by the presence of water, since hydrolysis is the other half of the reversible reaction equation of formation of weak salts.

Uranyl fluoride is reported to be stable in air to 300 C, above which slow decomposition to UO occurs.

This causes slow decomposition, and thus the plant debris gradually accumulates to form peat and eventually muskeg.

Organic matter in peat bogs undergoes slow anaerobic decomposition below the surface.

The fleshy parts had been roughly cured to make them last longer, but there were signs of slow decomposition and constant ongoing repair everywhere.

They often carry an active microbiota of bacteria, algae, nematodes and other creatures that mediate slow decomposition and the incorporation of organic materials into the soil (Figure 3.6D).

"Some of this is in amazingly good condition, unfortunately," Mr. Ronan said of the slow decomposition.