What is a peat sampler?
A peat sampler, often called a Russian peat corer, is a hand-operated sampler with a half-cylinder sample chamber, a solid cone tip and a rotating closure plate. It is designed to take samples from soft peat and sludge, where an ordinary soil auger cannot hold the material. In Dutch it is called a ‘veenboor’ or ‘klepgutsboor’. It can be used on land and under water, for example from a raft or in a ditch.
Method
- Push in: push the sampler, chamber closed, vertically down to the required depth. The solid tip displaces the peat, so hardly any material enters the chamber on the way down.
- Rotate: turn the sampler through 180 degrees. The cutting edge slices off a half-cylinder of peat and the plate seals the chamber.
- Withdraw: pull the sampler straight up and open the chamber. The layers lie in their original order.
- Go deeper: add extension rods and sample the next interval.
A common model, the Royal Eijkelkamp peat sampler, takes samples 50 cm long and 52 mm in diameter, to a depth of about 10 metres.
Peat sampler or Edelman auger?
An Edelman auger is turned into the ground and partly mixes the soil as it goes. It suits firmer soils such as sand, loam and clay. A peat sampler is pushed rather than turned and delivers a little-disturbed sample, so you can read layering, plant remains and transitions accurately.
Application
- Finding the thickness and make-up of a peat layer before building or adding fill.
- Archaeological and palaeoecological research.
- Investigating sludge and lake or canal sediments.
Tips and points of attention
- Do not force it: in sand, gravel or stiff clay you will make little progress. Switch to an Edelman auger or another soil auger.
- Record depths straight away: otherwise samples are easily mixed up.
- Keep it vertical: a sampler pushed at an angle distorts the profile.
- Clean between samples: rinse the chamber after each sample to avoid carrying material between layers.
Related terms
- Edelman auger
- Soil auger
- Hand auger
- Soil investigation
- Sludge
- Silt
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