Covering the soil with crushed white rock

Will covering the soil with crushed white rock help alleviate the pressure of the sun in arid regions?
Due to the colour reflecting the rays.Will it keep the soil thus cooler?
I am doing this on a small scale as i have found some white rock,somehow light in weight and crushed it slowly and then pouring
it onto the soil.

Hi, we do this in spain, it's a special kind of rock and maybe yours is the same as you mention it is lightweight.
In spain it's called jable (pronounced hablay) and it's volcanic and extremely porous, in the same way that biochar is. It can hold water and nutrients very well, and also, somehow it manages to stay in place on terraces rather than eroding away during flash floods. It can get a bit hard and compacted if it's been left in the sun unused for a few years, so needs disturbing a bit before planting seeds

Where in the world are you? Greece? I used to have a place south of Kalamata but I never came across this Jable type rock in that region.

Steve Farmer wrote:Hi, we do this in spain, it's a special kind of rock and maybe yours is the same as you mention it is lightweight.
In spain it's called jable (pronounced hablay) and it's volcanic and extremely porous, in the same way that biochar is. It can hold water and nutrients very well, and also, somehow it manages to stay in place on terraces rather than eroding away during flash floods. It can get a bit hard and compacted if it's been left in the sun unused for a few years, so needs disturbing a bit before planting seeds

Where in the world are you? Greece? I used to have a place south of Kalamata but I never came across this Jable type rock in that region.

Hi.Thank you for the answer ,do you mean pumice stone? I am in North of Pelloponisos ,near Patras.Kalamata is in the southern part.
The rock i am crushing is lightweight ,but still is heavy compared to a pumice stone that is so porous.The thing is that due to continuous weeding,the soil on the main parts has
been degraded with no organic matter and it is exposed in the harsh sun.So i am putting this kind of rock to reflect the sun and i will throw clay seebals of cover crops when the first
autumn rains begin.

Its heavier than pumice and has the texture of sandpaper. Sinks in water usually but occasionally some small bits float.

So it seems that what i used is either white cement or gypsum!I hope it is the latter .Would it have any negative effects in any case it is either one of them?
What does it seem to be?On the inside it is all white.

here's some good info about the affects gypsum has on soils, if indeed you are using gypsum:

http://www.cmtmi.com/gypsum.asp