Hi All,
Just want to ask if you have encountered a foul odor like a dead rat while digging your site? Our team happens to encounter the same. We were digging and when we removed a rock that odor came out. The odor spread widely. Then after an hour we returned and the odor has gone. We removed another rock from that same portion then suddenly the odor (like a dead rat) came out again. So we stopped for 30 minutes and then returned when the odor was gone. We did this a number of times for two (2) consecutive days and the odor is consistent whenever we removed a rock we smelled dead rat on that area.
Can anybody share your thoughts please. Thanks
Ph
So for a little bit of Chemistry. What is the foul smell ( not to confuse with a fowl smell ). Rotten eggs, rotten rats, rotten Japanese Soldiers, the smell is all the same basically. The human body or all tissue like such, contains among other stuff, Sulfur and naturally Hydrogen. Water is H20, hydrogen and oxygen combined. Well when the flesh rots, it releases Hydrogen Sulfide which is Sulfur and Hydrogen combined. That is what stinks to your nose. You will also get various degree of Hydrogen Sulfide from swamp or stagnant water, kick the bottom up., it's the decomposing plant material There are other chemicals in there as well but that is the basic stink. BTW cesspools stink about the same way, but smell slightly different.
Now we know the stink, so if you get such a stink, it can be caused by rotting flesh, or rotting plant material. This gunk can soak down into the soil, especially if it is rotting or stagnant swamp gunk, and get into the ground over a long period of time. So it could be plant stuff from long time back that is settling under the rocks making a stink. It could be migrating up gunk from a mass grave farther down the dig. With experience you can discern the different kinds of stink. But I would say a dead rat and a dead Jap smell about the same. Wow, is that a racist comment or not ? ?
The only way to know is continue the dig and or have a better idea of the geology of the area and the rocks.
Post some pics of your hole and the rocks right after you pull them up. Lets see the soil immediately under the rock. We have dug up a few mass graves and it played out like you are experiencing.
Z
PS get a blower and hose. This stink can seriously make you guys real sick.