Hundred of years ago my lot was part of a lake bottom and so I have rocks every where. I have removed most of the rocks but it seems that every year new rocks "grow". It seems that these rocks just keep making their way up to the surface. Why does this happen?
2007-06-04 03:29:50 · 9 answers · asked by swd6 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Earth Sciences & Geology
Small amounts of water collect just below the rocks. When water freezes, it expands slightly -- this pushes the rocks up. The gap is filled with soil & sand brought down by more water. Over time, this can lift the rocks right up to the surface.
2007-06-04 03:42:56 · answer #1 · answered by Nature Boy 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It's like filling a container with a ton of sand and placing some rocks about as big as 10 house bricks. Now compared to the sand particles..these are huge. but the sand as a whole weighs a lot more than the big rocks.
Now if the earth shakes..from the plates undernearth..you get vibrations..and these travel through the dirt..shifting them about and because they are so packed together and not much space..the ground shakes a lot more..and the bigger rocks are pushed out of their original space and the space they once occupied has been taken over by the smaller bits of rock because theres plenty of them and they're small. so the big rock has no choice but to stay in his new position..now if you repeat this process many times..the rock eventually gets pushed to the top or it might not. thats just one way rock is pushed to the surface. theres ways when the magna explodes underneath and because of pressure the rocks are blasted out of the earth..this is where you get your diamonds and things
2007-06-04 11:25:46 · answer #2 · answered by mrbragg2k 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Rocks move up to the surface because they are larger than the small soil particles that surround them. As a result, the smaller soil particles move into gaps between rocks and occupy the little gaps, thus pushing the rocks upwards. Bigger particles tend to remain at the top, for example, in a packet of chips, the bigger, larger unbroken pieces reach the top, and all the broken little pieces lie at the bottom of the packet. Shaking the packet just quickens the effect!
2007-06-04 10:48:58 · answer #3 · answered by shekum 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The action of worms, of rain water, and of vibrations are all such that small particles can move downwards more easily than upwards, therefore large particles appear to do the opposite. This happens in my muesli jar at home all the time - nuts and raisins at the top, oatmeal flakes at the bottom.
2007-06-04 12:16:53 · answer #4 · answered by bh8153 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I not real sure but this be a good experiment.
Get some loose dirt with some small rocks in it and put in a pan. Then shake it. Then vibrate it (maybe sit it on a running lawnmower). See what it do.
Then again, it could be from "Erosion".
2007-06-04 10:40:05 · answer #5 · answered by Snaglefritz 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
pipelines in sandy areas of the country do this all the time, usually due to raod vibrations and the internal vibration of the pipeline itself. smaller particles fall down and sift under the larger moving objects.
2007-06-04 12:33:23 · answer #6 · answered by johnjohnwuzhere 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is not the rocks that move it is the soil that changes or erodes from rain or water or wind.
2007-06-04 12:12:37 · answer #7 · answered by wolf 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
this happen because lava from underneath the surface comes up but it is cooled quickly.
2007-06-04 18:17:07 · answer #8 · answered by RockNerd13 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
tectonic plate movement
2007-06-04 10:52:07 · answer #9 · answered by sparks9653 6 · 1⤊ 3⤋