After the snow melts...

[robertochicago]

Hello,

So for the first time since I bought my metal detector, the midwest has gotten a ton of snow and several days of below zero temperatures that have frozen the ground fairly deep. When everything thaws out, how will the depth of targets in the freeze zone be affected? Will they be brought closer to the surface or be forced deeper underground? Thoughts?

 

[Surfinsafari]

I am in Illinois too and the best answer I can give you is it all depends on the soil. All soils don't heave the same when they freeze. Sometimes soil is hardly frozen at all if there is snow on the ground before the cold hits. I think rain is more of a factor than cold and most soils get more compacted the deeper they get as the top gets saturated and creates weight that slowly compacts the soil down deeper. When soil freezes, it expands in all directions so it doesn't force metals down. Gravity and soil movement from water do most of it. I have found 100 year old coins at 3 inches and new clad at 6 inches in the same area. Frost heaving does seem to mangle thin rings though. Sinking metal is a very slow process anyway so I would doubt a coin of any given size would sink more than 1/8 inch a year, otherwise we wouldnt be able to detect them after 100 or so years in the ground with just hobby detectors,

 

[mudpuppy]

What you want to do is hunt those snow piles at the edges of parking lots as soon as they begin to melt! Be strategic in your thinking...you will find all sorts of loot laying right on top of the ground! Even paper dollars! You can even hunt on top of the asphalt parking lots in the dust and gravel where the piles once were...you can check Craigslist lost and found for an idea of where you should be hunting...lost gold rings in parking lots at the mall for instance get posted there frequently...schools, at the health clubs, bars, places where there are wedding receptions...etc...gotta think strategically...
Any places the snow has been pushed in the past are chock full of whatever was dropped in that parking lot...you cant miss it when you get into one, even later in the year...all sorts of signals
Mud

 

[robertochicago]

Thanks for the insights! Looking forward to winter ending and getting back out there.