Yep. In areas where it freezes stones will continue to “pop” out of the ground for years and years and year, and when collected they have to go somewhere.
It's as well a case in my region in Central Europe, we colloquially say that "the soil breeds the stones". Corrosion, freezing and thaw cycles, they crumble the geological limestone layer beneath and push the rocks to the surface. More up north it's not the case, the "field stones" are remnants of the last glaciation in northern Europe.
So, the freezing causes stones to be pushed up? That is a rather interesting phenomenon. Had never heard of it before.
I believe it's called "frost heaving."
Yep, water gets under the stone in the dirt, not enough for it to sink, and then the water/ground freezes, and pushes the stone up.
It's why foundations are build below the frost line, to prevent heaving.
The explanation actually makes sense. Although, why wouldn't the stone just sink back down when the water melts? It is not like the space made by the expanding ice gets filled in by dirt.