04 April 2010

A sailing stone from Racetrack Playa


Geology.com has multiple photos and some discussion of the sliding rocks at the playa in Death Valley.   I like this one from Fresh Photons because it shows a right-angle turn.  GPS-generated maps of the movements are posted here, and there are more pix here.

Addendum 2013:  A hat tip to reader Bobbie who alerted me to a Smithsonian article offering a possible explanation of the stones' movements.

7 comments:

  1. Is there actual proof that the rocks move, and not that the mud moves underneath, like a stream?

    ReplyDelete
  2. From the GPS link: "Sharp and Carey also did an experiment using a circle of stakes around rocks to test the ice-sheet theory. At one time the one rock within the stakes (called "the corral") moved out leaving a distinct track..."

    ReplyDelete
  3. Off topic I know, but this is how alien craft change direction. No slowing, no curving like our planes, just a sudden change of direction. If you live in the country as I do you can see then clearly in the night sky.
    Le Loup.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This whole blog is off topic, so random comments are quite welcome.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Has it been proven that it's not just some magnetic force???

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...