Does treasure sink in the ground?

[Frankn]

The short answer is NO. There are exceptions like quicksand, but I doubt you are T.H. in quicksand! If a coin is dropped on the ground, a certain amount of dirt is blown on it by the wind. A certain amount is shoved on it by passing people or animals but the main coverage is done by dying vegetation. The coin does not sink,it is covered. If gold, which is heavy, sunk in the ground there would be no placer gold. It would all be at the center of the earth by now. I have been on the beach and seen old coins sitting two inches above the beach on small "sand towers". The wind and tide had removed several inches of sand from the beach. When I dig here in Md. I can tell how long an object has been in the ground by the depth. It makes no difference how much it weighs. I found several objects on a past hunt that were between 3" and 4". I knew they had been in the ground since the mid 40"s in fact two pennies were dated early 40's. I found an ax head,very rusty, at 10+". I knew it had been in the ground for over 200 years. Areas with little vegetation get most coverage from wind and water. All right lay it on me, but back it up!!

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[NH Bob]

Great subject. I tend to lean toward the item being covered and frozen ground letting the item drop from the loose soil that is created when the ground thaws. Frost in the ground will also push items like rocks to the surface. So it's a controversial subject and very interesting.

 

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[mxtman2]

Wow! i always thought that items in the woods were covered by decayed leaves and items in the open were covered by someone or something applying downward pressure during soft soil conditions. I mow occasionally and even drive my pick um up truck over my lawn. So with my delicate 220lbs added, that is between 600 and 2000 lbs of weight on a coin. (disclaimer- I have not used state certified scales to weigh these items so please do not refute my theory based on me talking out of my backside) I know my truck leaves a 4 inch rut in soft soil conditions. Eventually the lawn self corrects,but I am guessing that the metal objects stay lower.

I'm sure that these are too hairbrained and scientifically unsupported to garner much support, but I have spent at least 38 seconds of my life thinking about this matter.

Thank you.

-Fathead

Fathead, I think your purly unsientific explanation of why things "sink" or get covered is the most likely of all the "science" I've seen thrown around here.
Very interesting subject though.
Got me to thinking about an observation I made years ago. I went target shooting out in a remote area of desert out here in south CA in 1983,. I returned to the same exact spot in 1996, 13 years later. Guess what?? My 30 cal. carbine cases were laying there exactly as I left them! They were as black as coal but they were on TOP of the ground.
By the same token, I hunt a well goomed park near me and am always suprised to find yr.2000 quaters at 4 inches down! Go figure.

 

[Sim_Player]

Amazing how this post has grown legs.

Gotta add my observations...

If the ground is soft objects will sink fast and deep. I have dug modern clad 6" deep (until it hit a clay layer.)

If the ground is packed hard, you may find 100 year old stuff sitting on the surface. In the Idaho desert I dug Mercs 1-2" deep.

I'm assuming completely static conditions.

Here in Washington State we have lots of things against us.

#1) It rains alot. Objects sink quick and deep in soft soil. I think it's called "liquifaction?

#2) Not a long history. 100+ years

#3) Metal detectorists have been pounding all the easy locations for 30 years.

I grew up in Northern VA and wish that I had a detector back then.

What's with all the heated debate?

Jim on Camano

 

[Frankn]

The heated debate centers on one word "SINK" and the personal views of how objects get to the dept at which they are found! Here is what has showed up so far. A member found that coins and other objects were found on the surface under a 100 year old house. Another member found that shell casings fired about 13 years ago were laying on the ground in the desert. Another member found that an airport concrete runway was fairly stable while the surrounding ground appeared to sink. Objects found in parks appear to be found at various depts. Perhaps its like tree rings, only instead of growing out , the earth decays and shrinks only to be replaced by decaying vegetation on top with certain exceptions like desert areas etc. And that's what it's all about!!

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[Tuberale]

It can, but doesn't often.

Spoke to a soil scientist at Oregon State University a few years ago. Asked how fast soils grow. Was told that in most of the Pacific Northwest, it take at least 100 years to add 1 inch of soil. Was then told soil was, by definition, feces. Anything else is anything else: rock, sand, gravel, cobble, debris, etc. Was also told soils don't grow rapidly here because of poor soils and growing conditions. Ironic when we have some of the largest trees in the world growing on some of the worst soils in the world. Soils in the mid-West supposedly grow more rapidly because loess and river silt supports more plant life. But rivers deposit a lot more silt than areas not near rivers. There's a reason why early Mississippi and Missouri river boats are being found at 40 foot depths.

OK, a coin is not a boat. A coin in super-saturated soil, aka mud, can be elevated by ice crystals during a freeze locally. Ice melts pretty fast here, but it can push a coin 3 inches up in time for some of our rainfall to wash off the surface soil before the ice crystals melt.

There's also landslides and volcanic eruptions, which send ash around the world. Mt. St. Helens is a perpetual reminder 35 miles NNE of me. Harry Truman is presumed entombed under several feet of pyroclastic flow, which also filled in a lot of Spirit Lake.

 

[Frankn]

Tuberale: Good post with scientific backing.

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[renogeoff]

Fun topic. I live in a desert area, and also have parks that have plenty of water. I find 30-50 year old items within 1" in a dry area, and 5 year old coins 3-4" in the wet grassy areas. I contribute the "sinking" to 2 factors: water, and grass growing. Grass grows in 2 directions: up for the green shoot, and down for the roots. A coin dropped on the ground is caught in the middle. As the grass grows, it disturbs the soil around it and the water helps lubricate the dirt so a coin can start to "sink" in with the roots that are also "sinking".

As far as the gold and quartz theory: gold is formed in the quartz as a liquid and then crystallizes into a solid as it cools. nothing to do with gravity.