Soil Sampling Designs

This chapter provides guidance on several basic aspects of soil sampling, such as systematic sampling on a grid system, sample compositing, and sampling for specific chemical parameters, such as PCBs and VOCs. 

In the course of systematic soil sampling, we use grid patterns for identifying the sampling points. The size of the sampling grid and the locations of sampling points 

We use sampling grids mainly for surface soil sampling, however, it is not unusual to place soil borings and collect subsurface samples on a grid pattern. Grids are also used for soil sampling from the bottom and sidewalls of excavation pits and trenches. 

We need the following field equipment for laying out a sampling grid  

Identify a permanent landmark at the site (a building, a utility pole). 

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Table 2. Soil sampling design of the selected soil profiles at the Dinghushan Biosphere Reserve, South China ...

FAO classification (FAO 1998). Soil sampling design and the number of samples collected from each profile are provided in Table 2. 

B2 Sampling methods 3.5 Soil sampling designs 3.6 Water sampling 3.7 Surface sampling with wipes... 

If the designer is to do the job properly, it is important to have accurate data on which to base calculations. That is why test borings and proper laboratory analysis to determine the E value of the soil sample are essential. An arbitrary textbook selection of a soil modulus should always be avoided. However, if a pipe is to be buried deeper than the sampling zone that underwent laboratory testing to determine E and if the test bore shows the deeper material to be equal or better, then the designer may increase the E value proportionally to the square root of the differential soil stress. 

Additional information regarding applicator-boom width, spray-tank capacity, and the wheelbase of any vehicle-mounted soil sampling equipment used during the study is also required to ensure that the field plot design accommodates size restrictions of field equipment. 

This author recommends a minimum plot size of 4 rows x 200 ft for each treated plot. Foliar sampling would occur on the middle two rows with a 10-ft buffer on each end. Soil sampling would occur on each side of the middle two rows with a 10-ft buffer on each end. The 180-ft rows should be divided into 60-ft replicates designated as A, B, and C. The untreated plot should be 2 rows x 50 ft. For tree crops, 3 rows x 14 trees should be treated. The middle row should be sampled excluding the first and last trees. 

Nuclear Power Plants. EPRI (1981) conducted a survey of transuranic radionuclides in the terrestrial environs of nuclear power plant in 1978-1979. The plants included two PWRs and two BWRs that were of modem design and had been in operation at least 3 years. The 241Am levels in soil samples collected around all of the power plants were indistinguishable from fallout background. 

This type of extraction can be carried out in two different ways. A soil sample can be brought into the laboratory and extracted with relatively large amounts of water to try to determine its inorganic composition. The water-to-soil ratio can be either on a mass-to-mass basis or a volume-to-mass ratio. A one-to-one ratio is commonly used, although other ratios have been used. After a designated extraction time, with or without shaking, water is filtered from the soil and analyzed. A typical water extraction of soil is given in Procedure 11.1. 

Methods for Determining Parent Compound and Degradation Products in Environmental Media. While analytical methods appear to be available for the analysis of 1,2-diphenylhydrazine, no methods were found for the preservation of 1,2-diphenylhydrazine in ambient air, water, or soil samples. Such methods would allow the development and analysis of a monitoring program designed to better assess the concentrations of 1,2-diphenylhydrazine in and around hazardous waste sites. 

Thirty-two soil samples on a N-S traverse were collected from the brunisolic B-horizon (20 cm average depth) in May, 2008 over the drill-defined Northeast Zone of the Gay s River carbonate hosted massive sulfide (CHMS) Zn-Pb deposit, Stewiacke, Nova Scotia. This mineral target is buried by up to 10 m of exotic till and c. 10 m of gypsum, and so represents an ideal location to evaluate the exploration performance levels of partial digestions designed to extract labile elements from soil particle surfaces. 

Each soil sample consisted of a cube of soil (8X8X8 cm) removed adjacent to a designated marker. 

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