Where does all the pollution go?

[GraemeL]

Its always been a curiousity to me why ancient ruins are often found underground. Where has all of the stuff on top of them come from?

What has happened to all of the pollution that was in the atmosphere? Has it simply settled on the ground?

The start of layers of stuff that will mean out current buildings are found underground in 1000 years?

 

[alan1302]

? You think ancient ruins are found underground due to pollution falling on them and covering them over?

Most ruins have simply been built upon.

 

[Deleted member 59730]

Its always been a curiousity to me why ancient ruins are often found underground.

Machu Pichu, Stonehenge, The Pyramids of Giza, Carnac etc?????

 

[Mr D]

I always thought it was the lack of decent brushes. Its how you end up with a hill called Troy on top of multiple settlements (on top of each other) called Troy.

Seriously, abandon an area for 40 or 50 years and the building material you didn't take with you when you leave gets covered over, rots, disappears.
Abandon it for a few hundred years and the dust, blown debris, ash etc can build up considerably.

 

[Scalloway]

Where I live old buildings that have been left open to the elements end up getting filled with sheep poop which forms a nutritious soil so in a few years the floor level steadily rises with layers of dead grass.

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

Its always been a curiousity to me why ancient ruins are often found underground. Where has all of the stuff on top of them come from?

- Particulate matter, much like dust settling on shelves.

- Organic matter, which Scalloway pointed out. Plants grow, they die, they decompose into soil, and then new plants grow on top. Rinse and repeat.

- Subsidence. Back in those days they hadn't mastered the science of geology or constructing proper foundations, so very heavy buildings were built on unsuitable ground and basically sunk into the floor. That's why a lot of Roman ruins have wavy walls.

- They're built upon, which Alan pointed out. It wasn't easy to repair ancient buildings, and people in those days weren't so concerned with recycling. They built a settlement, used it until it was falling to bits through damage, erosion and rubbish, and then levelled it off and started again with new buildings on top. This process was greatly accelerated if a conflict destroyed most of the settlement, which was a relatively common occurrence in those days.

- They were already underground. A lot of ruins in the UK are actually the foundations and basements of buildings that previously stood tall above the surface. Everything above ground got destroyed, but the bits underground survived. Archaeologists then excavated around the walls to make them presentable, creating the illusion of these structures previously being above ground.

 

[simon field]

I’ve just looked out of the office window, and most of it has landed on the roof & bonnet of my freshly-washed truck

 

[thetiger2015]

I think Sedimentary rock is one part of your answer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedimentary_rock

Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of small particles and subsequent cementation of mineral or organic particles on the floor of oceans or other bodies of water at the Earth's surface. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles to settle in place. The particles that form a sedimentary rock are called sediment, and may be composed of geological detritus (minerals) or biological detritus (organic matter).

We also wouldn't have crude oil without this type of process: Oil is a fossil fuel that has been formed from a large amount tiny plants and animals such as algae and zooplankton. These organisms fall to the bottom of the sea once they die and over time, get trapped under multiple layers of sand and mud.

Pollution - it disperses over time, in to the atmosphere, plants, buildings, land/soil - our planet is able to absorb and compact a great deal of pollution but humans over burden it.

If you build a house in the middle of a forest and leave it a few hundred years, it will almost completely disappear. Nature will rip it apart and break it down to useful minerals for the forest floor.

The Titanic has almost completely been eaten by various creatures of the deep. They feast on the minerals in the iron and the wooden components were reclaimed decades ago by the ocean floor.

 

[paulears]

Living near a coastline with cliffs and erosion, it's really interesting to look at the horizontal strata build up - the cliffs are huge, but we're talking about buildup over thousands of years, but at the sea seal level, you can easily have buildups of over a metre in a year, and then suddenly one high tide and storm leaves a beach path suddenly up in the air when the beach level does a huge drop. So at the sea edge, ground level changes almost overnight. The cliff erosion reveals gradual build up over thousands of years - I don't know if it's like tree rings but you see layers of one coloured sand, then a different colour - I assume something thousands of years ago changed? Wind blowing in from the sea, wind blowing out towards the sea?? No doubt there are experts out there.

 

[Julia Sta Romana]

Yes, some of it falls down as precipitates. But most of the pollution actually just continues on through the carbon cycle. Used to be we produce more carbon dioxide and hydrocarbons than the cycle can manage. Now, it's more manageable:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_cycle

 

[Clinton]

Its always been a curiousity to me why ancient ruins are often found underground. Where has all of the stuff on top of them come from?

What has happened to all of the pollution that was in the atmosphere? Has it simply settled on the ground?

The start of layers of stuff that will mean out current buildings are found underground in 1000 years?

You are discounting the possibility that all early human cultures were subterranean in nature! Those buildings didn't get covered with layers of stuff, it's the other way around.

Humans used to look for layers of stuff and then burrowed under them to build houses and cities.

The fossil records show that early humans had long fingernails. These were used to dig into the soil. Humans came above ground only when they fancied a different diet and were bored of eating earthworms, tree roots and the occasional mole.

You must remember that in the early days Earth didn't have a proper atmosphere so there was a lot of harmful radiation on the surface. The only safe place was underground. Or in caves.

Nobody disputes that the very earliest humans lived in caves. What most people don't know is that once our ancestors got intelligent enough to build houses, they went underground. They didn't have to worry about digging too deep and coming out in China because at that time the earth was flat.

Anyway, you now know why most archaeological finds are made underground. You should attend some Scientology or Creationist meetings to learn more.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

I’ve just looked out of the office window, and most of it has landed on the roof & bonnet of my freshly-washed truck

Truck ! You can be a thug at times

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

I don't like it .
I liked it when had the pollution . It was all Hussle and bustle people on the move and making money . Now look at it an .economic wasteland !. I don't care if the river turns bright red I want trade and commerce
Its OK for all you leftie tree huggers but I want my old life back
You cant beat blasting a V8 up the M5

 

[GraemeL]

Thanks to @simon field who has given the most plausible explanation.

The next curiousity is how pollution determines which objects have been recently cleaned before settling?

 

[simon field]

Truck ! You can be a thug at times

Hey! It’s a 19 plate top of the range Navara - so not just ANY truck.

But yeah, I am a bit of a thug actually....