How does carbon behave when it is more than one meter (a bit more than 3 feet) below the land surface? For scientists, this has been a frustrating question. Why? The carbon levels this far down are typically 10 to 200 times lower than in surface soils. Such low levels pose a distinct challenge for analysis. Researchers developed a new approach that extracts better results. Their approach offers insight into how carbon behaves in low-carbon sediments.