Cold weather question

[lookingharder]

Iv'e heard for years that when the ground freezes it will push items up to the surface. I was told by the same guy that is why he has found arrow heads in the same fields for years. Is this true? I'm curious because I have searched fields and old yards (my handles looking harder so I pretty much cover every foot of a place) and have found coins and other items in places that I have searched several times in the spring. Just curious of what some of the other, much wiser hunters on the site think.

 

[Ahab8]

I live in Maine and the frost will move stuff around which often makes the signal better as the object is sitting in a more detectable position. Frost will certainly push stuff up sometimes. How far I have no idea. I’m guessing it depends on several factors. I would question your friends notion that frost pushes items up through to the surface. I would sooner guess the field gets plowed. But I’m not an expert on the effects of frost. Interesting topic that I too am curious about

 

[dognose]

The weather will give the impression of pushing an item to the surface, but I suspect is actually occurring is a complex combination of actions.

First a field is plowed or disked. This cuts up the weed roots and mixes up the ground. The relics which may have been 8 inches below the surface now may be only an inch or tow below a uneven ragged surface. Over time the rain will act like its melting the ground, but whats occurring is weathering of the ground surface at a small scale. Now the relic may only be a half inch or less.

Eventually the field is smooth. Now the relic could be on the surface completely or partially exposed.


Consider relic which was 2 inches from a smooth surface after weeks of weathering. After plowing it could then be 8 inches below the surface. The next fall after harvesting the plow brings it up to 5. Then before planting the plow puts it back 9 inches below the surface. After that season of harvest the plow brings it up to 5. And so on and so on.

This scenario is dependent on the type of conditioning the farmer is using on the field. Is he chisel the field? it he using a moldboard plow? Or other means? Consider a moldboard plow which could dig down approximately a foot deep. But of that foot of digging and turning over of the earth, only a very small fraction in relationship to the depth will actually be on the surface.

So it could take years of plowing for a relic within the plow zone to actually appear on the surface, which is why many relics are broke or have plow strikes.

 

[releventchair]

Stones partly protruding in the sand of my yard often become flush with the surface after repeated freezing and thawing.
Moisture is a part of their being able to sink ,combined with temp changes between stone and sand. Stone storing heat longer.
Any thing that rises ( or appears to rise when ground around it contracts) can also sink.
No great upheaval of objects. Sinking to ground level or just below is more common.
A warmer object thaws wet soil and settles.
A quarter ,or other coin dropped in winter will not always be right on the surface. Flush after freeze thaws and well hidden when new growth starts is more common.

Frost seeding of some seeds takes advantage of freeze / thaw cycles in spring creating good ground contact without having to use a cultipacker or similar method.