Which statement best describes tube samplers?

• A. Tube samplers are single-piece hollow metal tubes that are driven into the soil to collect soil samples.
• B. Tube samplers are used to collect air samples.
• C. Tube samplers are designed to sample only liquids.
• D. Tube samplers require drilling into rock.

Answer: (A)

Tube samplers are hollow metal tubes that are driven into the soil to retrieve an undisturbed soil core. The hollow design allows a column of soil to be captured as the tube is pushed or hammered into place, preserving the soil’s structure and layering for analysis of properties that vary with depth, such as texture, moisture, contaminants, and density.

This makes them specifically suited to soil sampling rather than air sampling or liquids, and they aren’t the tool of choice for rock drilling. Air sampling uses devices designed to trap airborne contaminants, not to extract a soil column, and liquids are typically handled with containers or sorbent/steam systems, not a soil core. In rock environments, different coring equipment is used to obtain rock samples rather than soil cores.