We consider a chain of elastic beads subjected to vanishingly weak loading conditions, i.e., the beads are barely in contact. The grains repel upon contact via the Hertz-type potential, Vinfinitydelta(n), n>2, where delta> or =0, delta being the grain-grain overlap. Our dynamical simulations build on several earlier studies by Nesterenko, Coste, and Sen and co-workers that have shown that an im...