How deep do items sink?

[Rock22]

Hello,

I am new to this so please forgive my question if it is dumb. I was wondering how far items really sink/cover up from leaves, dirt? I have been an arrowhead collector for sometime and understand that the plowing of fields brings them up. I also bottle hunt and find them along ridges in the woods where people dumped them. I find that bottles can be buried pretty deep and always wondered if it was leaves decomposing over many many years or if someone threw dirt on top. With metal detecting I always wondered how items get covered/sink and how far. I have found some musket balls on my land along a ridge and they were down 2-3 inches so is there any way to age an item from its depth? Thanks for any info.

Bill

 

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[cactusrat]

To many factors involved to age by depth.

Soil type, hardness of the soil and for how deep one type of soil is, soil moisture, weight and size of the object are just a few factors that will effect the sink rate.

And lets not forget, how deep the kid burying the treasure felt like digging that day.

 

[Jeremy S]

I have found modern clad nearly a foot down in yards with moles. The moles tunneling back and forth help objects descend very fast.

I found a silver dime in a yard at an old house with hard pack soul that was maybe an inch deep. I found a 1980s quarter at a park that was nearly a foot down with an ACE 250 last year. Things tent to sink faster in softer ground with less foot and vehicle traffic.

I think item depth is one of the thrills and mystery of this hobby. I like the challenge of find those deep faint signals and unearthing an old coin or relic. I also like the surprise when that shallow target ends up being an old silver coin, right when you least expect it.

 

[Diggin-N-Dumps]

I can tell you one thing...Here in Texas , during the summers, there are cracks that go down about 14-18 inches deep a couple inches wide....So , I know there are alot of coins that get buried deeper than they should be from that...But at the same time, I will see areas of Errosion and will find coins over 100 years old less then 2 Inches deep. My first Standing Liberty Quarter was on an incline at a park and was almost visable on the surface..
But if you are in an area that ALL your modern coins are 6+ Inches...it could have fill dirt that was added at sometime...pretty much why you gotta dig all signals...deep or shallow

 

[Jason in Enid]

My last construction site I dug at, they were clearing a park for a new parking lot. The scraper took a full foot of soil off the top and I was still digging several inches down for some targets. A few were a solid 18 inches below the original ground level.

How did they get that deep? Who knows, probably a lot of things combined.

 

[luvsdux]

This question comes up on forums fairly often. There really isn't an answer that is consistent because there are too many variables. Soil conditions, weather conditions, vegetation etc. are different from location to location. It's similar to threads about the accuracy of displays showing depth. I have several detectors with displays, but never pay much attention to the detector's estimation of depth because if it is showing a high likelihood of a coin, I'm going to retrieve it regardless of estimated depth.
luvsdux

 

[Dick Stout]

Yep, I think the question, as well as the answers, have been beaten to death. No one really knows.

 

[racer117]

All soils are different depending where you are at. some Topsoils contain some or trace clay ,or none at all . There is soft clay ,medium and hard clay ,all of which will hold water on top of it. So ,coins would probably not sink too deep . Sandy soils , which could be anywhere from loose to compacted , may allow coins to sink a little deeper . Here in Wisconsin , we have lots of glacial till ,which consists of rocks ,pebbles ,sand ,clay ,silt ,a hodgepodge of stuff . I really dont think something as light as a coin sinks by itself without some help. Foot traffic ,lots of rain , and vehicles pushing items down . In a woods ,leaves falling and biodegrading over years ,turning into soil covering items on the ground . From my experience , I can see no way to estimate how deep something would sink .

 

[G.A.P.metal]

Metal stuff will be at the depth you find them at
Gary

 

[Frankn]

Nothing sinks on land, swamps are mostly water so don't mention that.
On normal earth, items are covered by decaying vegetation, flooding, wind erosion, etc.
So, the dept varies according to these actions in the area. As an example, something might lay on the surface for 50 years or more in the desert. Only wind blow dust covers and uncovers things there. In my area of MD., the debt is usually about 4" for items dropped in the 40's and 10" for things lost 200 years ago. Down on the beach, it's there until the next person walks by. I have found gold coins on the surface and clad 6" down in other areas. You have figure your standards by what you have already found. Frank...

 

[BosnMate]

In northern California there are redwood trees that were large when Christ walked the earth, but leaf litter, which is substantial from a redwood, hasn't built up and caused the trees to sink down, the forest floor seems to be stable and stays the same, yet in the holy land, artifacts from the same time period are many feet under ground for any number of reasons. For one thing, humans haven't disturbed the soil in the forest for all those centuries, and there has been lots of human activity in the holy land, but still

 

[Frankn]

In northern California there are redwood trees that were large when Christ walked the earth, but leaf litter, which is substantial from a redwood, hasn't built up and caused the trees to sink down, the forest floor seems to be stable and stays the same, yet in the holy land, artifacts from the same time period are many feet under ground for any number of reasons. For one thing, humans haven't disturbed the soil in the forest for all those centuries, and there has been lots of human activity in the holy land, but still

Well, I thought about this many times and I noticed that the head stones by the graves had not sunk, and the houses hadn't sunk, and the roads and sidewalks mostly hadn't sunk. I was reading an article about the breakdown of decaying vegetation and it stated that rain water washes some of the decaying material into the sud soil and some is carried off by wind. So I think the area has a lot to do with the coverage, but I personally can't see any sinking. I have seen cars in the desert that look like they have sat there for almost 100 years.
Just my opinion though. Frank...

Hay this tank been sitting there since WWI on 2 small slabs. LOL Frank...

 

[CoilyGirl]

Tree roots can make coins get a little closer to the surface too sometimes. I relic hunt for Civil War items mainly and usually the smells are around 2and half to three inches down,heavier items a little deeper.

 

[SCDigginWithAK]

I have found the softer dirt with no travel sink down really far. I dug a half dime at 11-13 inches deep but the other day in a bit harder soil I found a 1878-1883 Yale lock visible from the top.

 

[63bkpkr]

Soil pH (acid or basic), leaves no leaves, grass & grass type, earth worms, moles, gophers, children, adults, roots, sandy, very humus soil, lots of rain, lots of heat, frozen ground heaves, top soil or added soil, next to/or near river/stream/lake, lots of ground living things (ie ants) and many more conditions are part of the unsolvable riddle of depth of stuff or even just why is stuff there in the first place. Just assume that for any given geographical location you will need to guess at how deep targets are. Or, it is just part of the detecting game and we all have to deal with it........................63bkpkr

 

[Rock22]

63bkpkr has answered my rookie question. Thanks!

 

[aquanut]

I've heard tell that there were coins found on the beach here in Florida and more coins found in China!