Can bands of black sand cause false signals?

[OBXmetalDet]

Last week I was at the Outer Banks and I just can't tell if bands of black sand was causing false signals.

 

[Sand Swinger]

There's also the theory that removing overburden also removes the halo of the target, making it a smaller target signal. Minelab machines (and some others) don't do well in air tests. They seem to like the ground matrix to help conduct the signal. This applies to land as well as ocean hunting.

There's also the theory, and a lot of discussions about whether it's better to hunt in wet/moist soil on land than dry soil. I have no way to verify this scientifically but, in my experience, I've always felt that I was able to detect deeper and get better signals if the ground was wet or moist, say a day or two after a good rain. I never liked hunting bone dry soil, always prefer the ground to be at least a little moist. Easier to dig as well, lol.