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The saprolite layer had been subterranean and previously unexposed, but had
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been exposed several weeks before by a new road cutting. It had a coarse sand texture
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with the original quartz mineral grains and micas/feldspar crystals in situ, closely
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resembling the original rock, but crumbling in the hand due to past weathering.
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Localized areas of haematite staining were present. No roots were present at the level
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where we sampled (although some had penetrated the upper 50cm or so of saprolite),
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and the saprolite overall had a white/pale yellow color. We sampled the saprolite at
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points spaced 10m apart along the wall of the road cutting, 1 m vertical depth below
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soil level and 30 cm horizontally into the exposed wall of the cutting, using a sterile
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soil corer. In this photograph multiple coring sites are shown, of which only one was
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used for a DNA extraction and PCR for archaea.
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