Summary
The soils laboratory, with the support of the isotope and analytical chemistry laboratories, plays an important role in supporting the Division's vadose zone research program. The lab supports specific areas of research including modeling simultaneous transport of mass and energy through porous media; soil leaching; transport of radionuclides through soils and unconsolidated sediments; paleoclimate reconstruction from soil profiles; and wastewater and chemical disposal via land spreading.

Goal
To combine new and standardized laboratory procedures for characterizing hydraulic, transport and thermal properties of soil and other unconsolidated material.

List of currently available laboratory procedures:

• calibration of a wide range of soil monitoring instruments
• saturated and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity
• water diffusivity
• porosity
• soil water content
• soil bulk density
• particle size analysis
• moisture retention characteristics
• cation exchange capacity
• soil pH

Small and large soil column or slab experiments can be conducted to support investigations into the movement of salt and other chemicals through unsaturated soil and unconsolidated materials.