Borax Lake  
Our first samples were taken at Borax Lake, where we sampled two different locations.  The first was eleven feet away from the lakeshore and the second fifty feet away.  In these samples, we found the soil was predominantly composed of light material (> 95%).  All of the samples contained a great deal of organic matter, mostly plant roots.  The amount of vegetation increased as we moved further from the lake.  Soil particles from this location were very small; too small for the roundness to be determined. 

Soils at eleven feet from the lake show lower porosity than those at fifty feet.  This might be attributed to precipitants from the water changing the composition of the soil.  Overall the average porosity at Borax Lake is 55%.  Flow velocity at eleven feet is higher in the topsoil than in soil six inches down.  At fifty feet, it is difficult to draw conclusions about the flow velocity from our data.  The velocity is relatively high in the topsoil, but slows immensely at three inches down.  At a depth of six inches, the velocity is over twice as fast as in topsoil from the same location.  This discrepancy could be due to actual difference in soil composition, or it may be our error in testing.  If the difference were due to soil variation, what would cause such a difference in just three inches? 

Alvord Hot Springs 
At Alvord Hot Springs, our sampling site was ten feet from the stream.  In general, the composition seems be around sixty-five percent light.  At six inches in depth there is a fair amount of root material, but much less than this in the topsoil. The material is evenly distributed throughout all seven size categories indicating that the sediments are not very well sorted.  Most of the rock fragments are sub-angular, which could mean that they haven?t traveled very far. 
The porosity of this site is fairly low, averaging 38.5 %, indicating a small amount of pore space. Compared to other samples, the flow velocity was relatively slow. 

Mickey Hot Springs 
Our sampling site here was located between the two small boiling pools.  There was vegetation growing a few inches from the test site but very little where we actually dug. There was a little vegetation in the topsoil, but very little visible in the deeper soil.  A noteworthy characteristic of this sample was the high flow velocity.  The average flow velocity through these samples was nearly nine times faster than in those from Borax Lake. The porosity ranks in the middle at 52.5%. Compared to the other two sites (especially Borax Lake) there is more dark material. Sieving showed that the samples were poorly sorted, with particles varying widely in size. Fragments ranged from sub-angular to round. 

Samples taken from the mud pot had high clay components.  Since this meant that our tests for flow velocity, porosity, and sieving would be ineffective we did not analyze these samples.  The top layer actually started forming thin pieces of shale, and the middle layer hardened into little clumps of clay.  Sediment take from the deepest level resembled bisque-fired pottery when it dried - it turned into a clay brick exhibiting ?nice mud cracks.? 
 

 

The samples taken near the first pool exhibited similar characteristics but didn?t have quite as much clay. Despite the lesser amount of clay, they had also hardened into massive globs and had developed mud cracks.  These dried sediments feel powdery when rubbed between the fingers.  Some grittiness indicates a slight sand component, but they predominantly exhibit composition of very fine particles.