Spent 4 hours digging for a layer I couldn't even see

I was out on a survey near some old riverbeds and kept hitting this weird gravelly patch that didn't match the soil above it. After three test pits and a lot of cussing, I realized I was trying to separate a natural flood deposit from a possible midden. It took me another hour of sifting through samples before my supervisor pointed out the subtle color difference in the dirt. Ended up labeling everything wrong and had to re-dig two pits the next day. Has anyone else wasted a whole afternoon on a false layer that just looked like regular sediment?

2 comments

2 Comments

patb128d ago

subtle color difference in the dirt" lol bro it's dirt. Like unless you're doing forensics or something, is it really that deep? I've literally picked up wrong sample bags before and nobody cared because half the time the lab can't tell the difference anyway. You spent a whole day re-digging for something that probably won't even change the final report.

carr.gavin8d ago

Aw man, I gotta push back a little here. I mean, I get where you're coming from with the "it's just dirt" thing, but subtle color differences can actually signal a different soil horizon or maybe some contamination like old fuel soak or something. If you're trying to match a sample to a specific spot for something like a foundation report or a septic system, grabbing the wrong bag can mess up the percolation rate data. Sure, sometimes the lab can't tell, but other times it's the difference between passing an inspection and having to redo a whole drainage field. It might feel like overkill, but a day of re-digging now beats a lawsuit later if your numbers don't add up.