A Simple Method for Removing Artifacts from Moist Fine-Textured Soil Faces

Smearing of soil faces during preparation of soil excavation walls for detailed imaging, analyses, and description tends to be a problem in moist, fine-texture soils. The artifacts left behind on faces of soil in these conditions is also a problem when preparing monolith surfaces for preservation and when working with significantly moist soil aggregates meant to be kept intact. This paper describes a simple method of using 1,1-difluoroethane (DFE) to flash freeze the surface of significantly moist soils and peel the resulting frozen layers away to expose a relatively smooth, intact soil face. The method works well when compared to traditional methods of using hand tools such as soil knives or trowels. When handled carefully, exposure risks to DFE are minimal. There are, however, potential dangers associated with DFE. These should be made known to users of the method and precautions taken as appropriate.