Weathering: Earth's Inexorable Millstone

• Published in: Elements
• Main Author: Eiler, John M.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Mineralogical Society of America 2019
• Subjects: Carbonic acid
• Online Access: https://authors.library.caltech.edu/97910/; https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20190815-083458971

Mere centuries from now, almost every physical object you've bought or wrought will have disappeared from the face of the Earth. Nature's forces will conspire to erase your archeological record. Unless you live in a stone manor, the foundations of your home will gradually crumble due to carbonic acid seeping into hairline cracks. Soil will migrate and turn over, shifting and consuming whatever objets d'art now grace your yard. Oxidation and sunlight will yellow and crack exposed plastic and paper. And everywhere, always, a teeming horde of plant roots, invertebrates, moles, and their microbial friends and relations will disaggregate and eat whatever they can. In the blink of a geological eye, almost your entire archaeological record will very likely be buried, broken down, and swept away.