How To Make A Professional Soil Monolith Model
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Soil Monolith Procedures 11-15
11.) Carefully cut away, shave, or otherwise remove all soil above the cutting edge of the frame; a machete is an appropriate tool for this job. This is the surface that will be attached to the mounting board. (At this time the monolith may be transported in the frame if desired).
Average time to this point is about 3 hours, but it can range from 1-6 hours depending on the ease of digging, soil texture, etc.
12.) Prepare mounting board (cabinet grade plywood 3/4"x 8" x 48" is used) by outlining, in pencil, the 4" x 40" area to contain the monolith on both sides of the board.
13.) From the back side, drive approximately 24+ finishing nails (1" length) through the board being careful to stay more than 1" from the sides and about 2" from the top and bottom of the mount area.
14.) Apply a generous coat of Elmer's Contact Cement to the mounting board and protruding nails.
15.) Also apply a generous coat of Elmer's Contact Cement to the smoothed soil profile face exposed in the frame. (Usually, this must be accomplished in less than 15 minutes due to rapid drying time- some folks also choose to place 1-2 layers of cheesecloth between the board and the profile as an interface to hold additional glue.)
Back to How to Make Soil Models
Back to Soil Monolith Procedures 1-5
Back to Soil Monolith Procedures 6-10
Go to Soil Monolith Procedures 16-20
Go to Soil Monolith Procedures 21-23 and Final Procedures
Permission to digitize and display the images and text of "How to Make a Soil Monolith" was granted by Dr. Maxine Levin, USDA's Agricultural Research Service.