Question of the day- How did "it" get so deep? For you Deep Thinkers out there

[Hookedondetecting]

Question of the day- How did "it" get so deep? For you Deep Thinkers out there

I noticed that most everything I find on Grandma's Farm is 4" to 8" below the surface.
I've been there visiting for most of 60 years now.
Although Grandma has been gone for some time I remember she used Aluminum Pie Plates to feed the dogs.
Uncle Vin would chop them up with the lawn mower. No one picked them up.
So now 40-55 years later I am finding aluminum pie plates everywhere 4-8" below the lawn.
They ping like Quarters.

Question: How do these items get so deep below the sod? The place is on a hill so there is no rain water moving soil in to the area to cover the plates. Gravity could help but it is light aluminum.

 

[BC1969]

I once read an article on this many years ago, that suggested that a typical coin will bury itself on average 2 inches every 10 years, now I am guessing that there is a TON of variables that can come into play with that theory, since all the different compositions of soils all over the place.
I've hunted parks that were solid clay and found mercs from the 30's and 40's at 6-8 inches, and I have found mercs in pure sandy soils at 2 inches, I think it has alot to do with how much traffic an area has seen, thereby compressing the soil pushing items deeper, also I would note that I have found them god awful crusty zincs at 6 inches also in hard packed clay...how them buggers got down that deep in anybodys guess, though I do know of a guy, and for the life of me I do not know why he would do such a thing, but when he digs up a target, he places a zinc penny in the hole then fills it back up and moves on, must like laughing at others as to why they keep wondering why they are digging zincs at them depths.
I would like to think it has to do with the earth shifting around like it does all the time, to observe that in fast forward, go to the ocean and toss a object on the beach near the water line, then watch the waves bury it under the sand, while you watch.
well I could go on forever...I am really a deep thinker.
Mike

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Heat of the sun. Frost heaves. Actions of worms. Farm/turf equipment. Composting of grass/humus.

I found a 1996 clad Roosevelt Dime 10" deep along a riverbank. Thought sure I was onto old silver. Found a ? date Indian Head cent on the surface worn smooth on the obverse.

Go figure.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

In the same soil I once found a merc at 8". Moved a couple feet and found an 1894 IH at 1/2". This was black soil just West of Toledo. As I do understand it, things do rise and fall, mostly due to the weather and rain, and of course snow. In the same area, I dug a balled up cigarette pack at 13" - thought for sure it was silver, such a sweet whisper....

 

[BosnMate]

There has to be a lot of reasons. Why are Indian relics found on top of the ground in areas that have never been farmed? I was hunting in some open wood consisting of very large pine trees. Pine needles stop all sorts of undergrowth, so for the most part the forest floor was pine needles, and you could see quite a long way through the trees. I found an obsidian arrow head on top of the needles, no gopher mound, no other rocks, just that one point laying right there, the last human that ever touched it lived in the stone age, which in this part of Oregon could be around 200 years ago plus a long time beyond that. I was hunting, I wasn't on a trail, why was that point there when long ago it should have been covered with needles and buried. Did a gopher pushed it up and the rain washed to dirt away, leaving it sitting all alone on top of the needles? I don't have the answer, and I don't think anyone can really come up with an answer. Logically it's a combination of a lot of things, including animals, worms, weather, human activity, freezing, thawing, and the list goes on. To me it's remarkable how fast a ring gets below the grass roots in a park, but then if not found, tends to stay in that area of soil for years, even with mowed grass building up on top of he park lawn. Look at what they find in the Holy Land. Towns and foundations over centuries have been under feet of soil, with more building built on top over the many years. Then look at the redwood forest. Trees old at the birth of Christ are not being buried under anything. There seems to be no soil build up in a redwood grove, even though there is lush fern growth, and the redwoods shed needles all the time, but the depth of the duff seems to remain the same. It's all beyond me, I just know it happens.

 

[doc-d]

Interesting and many good thoughts......
Along the same thoughts is why do rocks, every year, rise to the top, big rocks, small rocks......at least here in our rocky clay soil.