I've been sick the last few days and have spent much time lounging on my couch contemplating the world (well, not really). I live in a 3rd floor apartment on the corner of a busy intersection and one thing that I've noticed is whenever a large truck drives by, my apartment shakes. Its literally like a small earthquake, or what I'd imagine a small earthquake to be like. Throughout the last year in my apartment, I've noticed pots rattling on the stove, or water jiggling in my cup (think Jurassic Park here), but I've never really thought anything of it.
A few questions that have gone through my mind:
Does the building shake more on the 3rd floor because I'm higher up? Would someone on a hypothetical 10th floor feel the shake more, or less?
Does the shaking hurt the foundation? I've been noticing a crack in my wall getting wider...
How does the shaking affect soil organisms?
This third question really got to me (because, I am, after a soil scientist!). And it got me thinking even more...what does the soil look like under a city? Is it damp all the time? If you look out onto a block of street, more than likely almost everything has been covered over with cement. The streets, the sidewalks, the parking lots, the buildings... nothing of the former tall-grass prairie exists! All plants (usually weeds) have moved in with the wind, doing what they do best, thriving in desolate places! Is the soil under the cement stagnant and stale? Does it have little critters or creepy crawlies living in it? Earthworms crawl up to the soil surface during rain, and I see them on the street...so there must be some life under cement. Whether its healthy life, I'm not sure...
