Balloon and Core Sampling for Determining Bulk Density of Alluvial Desert Soil

Abstract

Samples were collected from major strata in the upper 5 m of an alluvial soil profile in the Amargosa Desert of southern Nevada to compare rubber‐balloon and drive‐core bulk‐density measurement methods. For strate where the fine soil was −3 less than those determined by the balloon method. Under the severe sampling conditions encountered, large decreases in the relative accuracy of the core method were not directly related to rock‐fragment content, but were related to extremes in the cohesiveness of the strata sampled.