Ice Stories
Exploratorium Home

Digging Soil Pits



TOOLIK FIELD STATION, ALASKA– The northern foothills of the Brooks Range, including Toolik Lake, received nearly 15 cm of rain over the past several months. In Fairbanks, the rivers are at levels not observed since 1967. The tundra is fully saturated with the recent precipitation. Because of the underlying permafrost, these waters don’t penetrate deep into soils. Instead, the water sits stagnant. This phenomenon affects our efforts to sample the tundra soils adjacent to our vegetation plots.

Often, soon after we dig a soil pit, it fills with water from the surrounding saturated tundra.

Watch this video, to see how we remedied the problem on a recent snowy and blustery day.



Get the Flash Player to see this player.


Tags: , , , ,

One Response »

  1. I want soil pit video
    tanks nande herath