ABSTRACT
This chapter provides tables and checklists that can be used to help select specific field methods, and to identify equipment and documents that should be assembled prior to going into the field. Multiple soil profile descriptions at a site can provide a great deal of information that may be useful in evaluating the variability of soil properties, and the directions and potential for transport of contaminants in the subsurface. Where soils are not rocky, a thin-wall soil probe can be used to prepare a moderately detailed soil profile descriptions in a relatively short time per description in order to identify larger scale variations in soil characteristics. A number of tests involving relatively simple procedures and equipment can be used to measure or characterize soil physical and chemical properties. Soil samples for chemical characterization in the laboratory should generally not double as samples for detailed soil description, because exposure to the air before placement in sample containers should be minimized.
