Two cool blog posts from one of my favorite websites, www.boingboing.net. Maggie Koerth-Baker, the in-house science blogger visited the Harvard Forest in Massachusetts, one of the most researched forests in the world, to delve into the why and how of research. As a part of her trip, she visited a swamp, and gave the casual reader an idea of how swamp soil is sampled and classified, something a wetland scientist typically does. Boingboing is perennially rated as one of the top 20 blogs worldwide, so this article is great exposure for a field that remains unknown to most, and mysterious to all the rest.
Using a hand operated auger, Maggie drilled into the swamp soil and extracted multiple 50cm long core samples that tell a story of the conditions and chemical composition of the swamp throughout the last 6,000 years. Beginning at the top of the core sample, there are large chunks of organic material, which as the sample stratification progresses downwards, decrease in size. Finally closest to the bottom of the core, the organic material has largely disappeared, leaving only greyish clay. Using a Munsell Soil Chart, the color of the soil is compared to the chart to make a determination of the type and consistency of the soil for further study.
Both of the blog posts are here: