The vertical compaction of unconsolidated subsurface sediment was investigated at the Tama river estuary in Tokyo, Japan. The cores were taken by hand using polybutyrate tubes with different inner diameters, and core compaction ratios were measured in situ. Percent compaction varied with depth within the same core and with the inner diameter of a coring tube as well as its wall thickness. These results strongly suggest that vertical compaction of soft sediments during coring should be well documented in published articles relevant to the time-dependent analysis of sedimentary environments. Otherwise, comparison of one core with another could be misleading in discussions focused on modern soft sediment.

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