FIELD GUIDE

ORDER OF DESCRIPTION
1. Soil type 2. USCS symbol 3. Color 4. Consistency/Density 5. Moisture
6. Grain size (sands and gravels) 7. Cementation 8. Plasticity 9. Miscellaneous
EXAMPLE DESCRIPTION
Poorly-graded sand with gravel (SP), light brown, loose, moist, predominantly fine sand, trace medium sand,
20% fine gravel, hydro carbon odor and staining
UNIFIED SOIL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM
1 2
COARSE-GRAINED SOILS

GRAVELS Well-graded gravels, gravel-sand mixtures, little or no fines GW

GRAVELS
<50% passes #200 sieve

<50% coarse with little or no fines Poorly-graded gravels, gravel-sand mixtures, little or no fines GP
fraction passes GRAVELS Silty gravels, poorly-graded gravel-sand-silt mixtures GM
#4 sieve with ≥15 fines Clayey gravels, poorly-graded gravel-sand-clay mixture GC
SANDS Well-graded sands, gravelly sands, little or no fines SW
SANDS
≥50% coarse with little or no fines Poorly-graded sands, gravelly sands, little or no fines SP
fraction passes SANDS Silty sands, poorly-graded sand-gravel-silt mixtures SM
#4 sieve with ≥15% fines Clayey sands, poorly-graded sand-gravel-clay mixtures SC
Inorganic silts and very fine sands, silty or clayey fine sands,
FINE-GRAINED SOILS
≥50% passes #200 sieve

silts with slight plasticity ML

SILTS AND CLAYS
Inorganic clays of low to medium plasticity, gravelly clays,
liquid limit <50 CL
sandy clays, silty clays, lean clays
Organic silts and clays of low plasticity OL
Inorganic silts, micaceous or diatomaceous fine sand or silt MH
SILTS AND CLAYS
Inorganic clays of high plasticity, fat clays CH
liquid limit >50
Organic silts and clays of medium-to-high plasticity OH
HIGHLY ORGANIC SOILS Peat, humus, swamp soils with high organic content PT

SOIL TYPE MODIFIERS NOTE: Well-graded (wide range of grain sizes) = poorly sorted;
poorly-graded (predominantly one grain size) = well sorted
Sand/Gravel Silt/Clay
Term % fines Term % fines
trace <5 trace <5
with 5-15 with 15-30
clayey/silty >15 sandy/gravelly >30

3 COLOR Assign color using Munsell Soil Color Chart (1992) if possible

4 CONSISTENCY (Silts and clays)

Term Blow/ft* Field Test
1.4"ID 2.0"ID 2.5"ID (when blow counts not available)
very soft 0-2 0-2 0-2 Easily penetrated several inches by thumb; extrudes when squeezed
soft 2-4 2-4 2-4 Easily penetrated one inch by thumb; molded by light pressure
medium stiff 4-8 4-8 4-8 Penetrated over 1/2 inch by thumb with moderate effort; molded by strong pressure
stiff 8-15 9-17 9-18 Indented by 1/2 inch by thumb but penetrated only with great effort
very stiff 15-30 17-39 18-42 Readily indented by thumbnail
hard 30-60 39-78 42-85 Indented with difficuty by thumbnail
very hard >60 >78 >85 Thumbnail will not indent soil

* = 140 pound hammer dropped 30 inches

DENSITY (Sands and gravels)

Term Blow/ft*
1.4"ID 2.0"ID 2.5"ID
very loose 0-4 0-5 0-7
loose 4-10 5-12 7-18
medium dense 10-29 12-37 18-51
dense 29-47 37-60 51-86
very dense >47 >60 >86
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5 MOISTURE CONTENT
Term Field Test
Dry Absence of moisture, dusty, dry to the touch
Moist Damp but no visible water
Wet Visible free water

6 GRAIN SIZE
Term Sieve size Grain size Approximate size
Boulders 12 inches >12 inches Larger than basketball-size
Cobbles 3-12 inches 3-12 inches Fist-size to basketball-size
Gravel - Coarse 3/4-3 inches 3/4-3 inches Thumb-size to fist-size
Fine #4-3/4 inches 0.19-0.75 inches Pea-size to thumb-size
Sand - Coarse #10-#4 0.079-0.19 inches Rock salt-size to pea-size
Medium #40-#10 0.017-0.079 inches Sugar-size to rock salt-size .
Fine #200-#40 0.0029-0.017 inches Flour-size to sugar-size .
Fines Passing #200 <0.0029 inches Flour-size and smaller

7 CEMENTATION
Term Field Test
Weak Crumbles or breaks with handling or slight finger pressure
Moderate Crumbles or breaks with considerable finger pressure
Strong Will not crumble or break with finger pressure

8 PLASTICITY
Nonplastic Thread (1/8 inch or 3mm) cannot be rolled at any water content.
Low Thread can barely be rolled. Lump cannot be formed when drier than the plastic limit.
Medium Thread is easy to roll and not much time is required to reach the plastic limit. Thread cannot be
rerolled after reaching the plastic limit. Lump crumbles when drier than the plastic limit.
High Takes considerable time rolling and kneading to reach the plastic limit. Thread can be rerolled
several times after reaching the plastic limit. Lump can be formed without crumbling when drier
than the plastic limit

9 MISCELLANEOUS
Plasticity (if applicable) Fill or native material Loss of drilling fluid
Organics, carbon, vegetation, debris Degree of rounding/angularity Caving/sloughing
Structure (e.g., layering) Stratigraphic unit (if known) Odor (organic, petroleum, or chemical)
Coloration (staining, oxidation, mottling) Drilling rate and rig behaviour Organic vapor readings
Lithology (e.g., quartz, mafic minerals) Heaving sands Fracturing

ROCK CLASSIFICATION
Rock name Color Weathering Fracturing Competency Mineralogy Miscellaneous

Depth to first water (time and date)

Depth to water after drilling (time and date)

INCHES (tenths) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
(Add 1 inch)

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 UNIFIED SOIL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM
FIELD GUIDE
Flow Chart for Identifying Fine-Grained Soils (more than 50% fines)

< 30% plus No. 200
CL
≥ 30% plus No. 200
GROUP NAME
< 15% plus No. 200 Lean clay
15–29% plus No. 200 % sand ≥ % gravel Lean clay with sand
% sand ≥ % of gravel
% sand < % gravel
< 15% gravel
Lean clay with gravel
Sandy lean clay
≥ 15% gravel Sandy lean clay with gravel
% sand < % of gravel < 15% sand Gravelly lean clay
≥ 15% sand Gravelly lean clay with sand

< 30% plus No. 200
ML
≥ 30% plus No. 200
< 15% plus No. 200 Silt
15–29% plus No. 200 % sand ≥ % gravel Silt with sand
% sand ≥ % of gravel
% sand < % gravel
< 15% gravel
Silt with gravel
Sandy silt
≥15% gravel Sandy silt with gravel
% sand < % of gravel < 15% sand Gravelly silt
≥ 15% sand Gravelly silt with sand

< 30% plus No. 200
CH
≥ 30% plus No. 200
< 15% plus No. 200 Fat clay
15–29% plus No. 200 % sand ≥ % gravel Fat clay with sand
% sand < % gravel Fat clay with gravel
% sand ≥ % of gravel < 15% gravel Sandy fat clay
≥15% gravel Sandy fat clay with gravel
% sand < % of gravel < 15% sand Gravelly fat clay
≥ 15% sand Gravelly fat clay with sand

< 30% plus No. 200
MH
30% plus No. 200
< 15% plus No. 200 Elastic silt
15–29% plus No. 200 % sand ≥ % gravel Elastic silt with sand
% sand < % gravel Elastic silt with gravel
% sand ≥ % of gravel < 15% gravel Sandy elastic silt
≥15% gravel Sandy elastic silt with gravel
% sand < % of gravel < 15% sand Gravelly elastic silt
≥ 15% sand Gravelly elastic silt with sand

NOTES: — Percentages are based on estimating amounts of fines, sand and gravel to the nearest 5%.
Estimated Percentages — Material passing a No. 200 sieve is classified as fine; material retained on a No. 200 sieve
is classified as sand and coarse-grained particles.

5% 10% 15% 20% 30% 50%

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 UNIFIED SOIL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM
FIELD GUIDE
Flow Chart for Identifying Coarse-Grained Soils (less than 50% fines)

GROUP SYMBOL GROUP NAME

≤ 5% fines Well-graded GW < 15% sand Well-graded gravel
≥ 15% sand Well-graded gravel with sand

Poorly-graded GP < 15% sand Poorly-graded gravel

≥ 15% sand Poorly-graded gravel with sand

Well-graded fines = ML or MH GW-GM < 15% sand Well-graded gravel with silt
GRAVEL ≥ 15% sand Well-graded gravel with silt and sand
% gravel > >5 - <15% fines = CL or CH GW-GC < 15% sand Well-graded gravel with clay
% sand fines ≥ 15% sand Well-graded gravel with clay and sand
Poorly-graded fines = ML or MH GP-GM < 15% sand Poorly-graded gravel with silt
≥ 15% sand Poorly-graded gravel with silt and sand
fines = CL or CH GP-GC < 15% sand Poorly-graded gravel with clay
≥ 15% sand Poorly-graded gravel with clay and sand

fines = ML or MH GM < 15% sand Silty gravel

≥ 15% fines ≥ 15% sand Silty gravel with sand
fines = CL or CH GC < 15% sand
≥ 15% sand
Clayey gravel
Clayey gravel with sand

Well-graded SW < 15% gravel Well-graded sand

≤ 5% fines ≥ 15% gravel Well-graded sand with gravel
Poorly-graded SP < 15% gravel
≥ 15% gravel
Poorly-graded sand
Poorly-graded sand with gravel

fines = ML or MH SW-SM < 15% gravel

≥ 15% gravel
Well-graded sand with silt
Well-graded sand with silt and gravel
Well-graded
SAND
>5 - <15%
fines = CL or CH SW-SC < 15% gravel
≥ 15% gravel
Well-graded sand with clay
Well-graded sand with clay and gravel
% sand >
% gravel
fines fines = ML or MH SP-SM < 15% gravel
≥ 15% gravel
Poorly-graded sand with silt
Poorly-graded sand with silt and gravel
Poorly-graded
fines = CL or CH SP-SC < 15% gravel
≥ 15% gravel
Poorly-graded sand with clay
Poorly-graded sand with clay and gravel

< 15% gravel Silty sand

≥ 15% fines
fines = ML or MH SM ≥ 15% gravel Silty sand with gravel
< 15% gravel Clayey sand
fines = CL or CH SC ≥ 15% gravel Clayey sand with gravel

Estimated Percentages NOTES: — Percentages are based on estimating amounts of fines, sand and gravel to the nearest 5%.
— Material passing a No. 200 sieve is classified as fine; material retained on a No. 200 sieve
is classified as sand and coarse-grained particles.

5% 10% 15%
15% 20% 30% 50%
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