Where does the extra dirt come from that buries an ancient civilization?

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I’m laying awake, not able to figure this out.

If our civilization were to be left untouched for thousands of years then over time it’d get covered in dirt. Some future generation would have to “dig up” our civilization in the same way we dig up artifacts from the ancient past.

Where does that dirt come from? Is it floating around in the atmosphere? Or does it get created somehow (ie. organic matter decomposing)?

My understanding is that older artifacts are buried deeper, which may not be the correct understanding. But is there some relationship to dirt vs time?

So many questions.

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8 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Vegetation creates a lot of soil.

For example: most roads are built with dirt sloped sides to carry water away. Nevertheless have a look to an old road and you can see how the grass has created a 20cm tall dirt wall on the sides. Idk if it happens everywhere, but here in Italy they have to periodically scrape the road side with a dozer to remove that dirt buildup. I guess it grows 1 cm of dirt per year.

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