What are the different types of soil samples ?

 Different types of soil samples  

In this article we discussed different types of soil samples used for lab testing 

Soil Sample in generally classified into two Categories 

1. Disturbed Sample 
2. Undisturbed sample

1. Disturbed Samples 

• those samples in which the natural  structure of the soil got disturbed either partly or fully during sampling are called disturbed samples.

These are further classified into following 

Non-Representative Sample

Representative Sample

 

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• Representative sample 

• Representative samples are those in which all the constituent minerals or chemical composition  and the water content are retained but only the structure of the soil got disturbed.
• There are changes in water content .
• These samples are used in the  determination of physical properties like atterberg limits and specific gravity.

• Non Representative Sample 

• Non-representative samples consist of  mixture of materials from various soil or rock strata or are samples from which some mineral constituents have been lost or got mixed up with other minerals.
• These are suitable only for providing  qualitative information such as major changes in subsurface strata.
• Example:
• Soil sample from Auger and wash boring.
• Representative samples are Useful for test identificaions but non-Representative  samples are of No Use

•  Undisturbed sample 

• Undisturbed samples are those which  are subjected to minimum  disturbances.
• These samples are practically not possible to obtain but samples with minor alteration are Still Suitable for lab test.
• These samples are used in strength  and consolidation test
• Example:Tube sample and Chunk sample