The Sailing Stones of Death Valley

Death Valley National Park is a strange place by any standard. Famously known for being the H๏τtest place on earth, Death Valley also sits at the driest and lowest elevation in North America.

Its strangest feature of all is the mysterious Racetrack Playa. Here, rocks drift across the flat desert landscape, seemingly propelled by no power other than their own!

The mystery of the sailing stones

Located on the border of California and Nevada, Death Valley National Park was designated in 1933, and is home to one of the world’s strangest phenomena: rocks that move along the desert ground with no gravitational cause. Known as “sailing stones,” the rocks vary in size from a few ounces to hundreds of pounds. Though no one has ever seen them actually move in person, the trails left behind the stones and periodic changes in their location make it clear that they do.

Scientific explanations

The rocks of Racetrack Playa are composed of dolomite and syenite, the same materials that make up the surrounding mountains. They tumble down due to the forces of erosion, coming to rest on the parched ground below. Once they reach the level surface of the playa, the rocks somehow move horizontally, leaving perfect tracks behind them to record their path.

Many of the largest rocks have left behind trails as long as 1,500 feet, suggesting that they’ve moved a long way indeed from their original location. Rocks with a rough-bottomed surface leave straight tracks, while smooth-bottomed rocks tend to wander. The sailing stones have been observed and studied since the early 1900s, and several theories have been suggested to explain their mysterious movements.

In 2014, scientists were able to capture the movement of the stones for the first time using time-lapse pH๏τography. The results strongly suggest that the sailing stones are the result of a perfect balance of ice, water, and wind. In the winter of 2014, rain formed a small pond that froze overnight and thawed the next day, creating a vast sheet of ice that was reduced by midday to only a few millimeters thick. Driven by a light wind, this sheet broke up and accumulated behind the stones, slowly pushing them forward.

Sailing stones in the desert of Death Valley

 

Related Posts

Runkelstein Castle

Runkelstein Castle

Runkelstein Castle  is a medieval fortification on a rocky spur in the territory of Ritten, near the city of Bolzano in South Tyrol, Italy. In 1237 Alderich Prince-Bishop of Trent gave the brothers…

Château de Chambord

Château de Chambord

The Château de Chambord in Chambord, Centre-Val de Loire, France, is one of the most recognisable châteaux in the world because of its very distinctive French Renaissance architecture, which blends traditional French medieval forms…

Entire Seward, Alaska Community Witnesses UFOs with Reported аɩіeп Sightings

Seward, a small towп located iп Alaska, has beeп the talk of the towп lately. The reasoп for this is the mysterioυs sightiпgs of UFOs iп the…

Mysterious Alien Encounter: Real UFO Video Emerges from Lakeside Surveillance (VIDEO)

The night of August 12th, 2019, will forever be etched in the memory of Lakeview residents. It was the night when an unidentified flying object, or UFO,…

The event that shook the world: The investigation of UFO objects in the Londa valley

For decades, UFO sightings have fascinated and puzzled people worldwide, inspiring curiosity and ѕkeрtісіѕm in equal measure. Yet, few cases have сарtᴜгed the world’s attention as dramatically…

Breakiпg News: Missiпg Plaпe Retυrпs After 36 Years—Pᴀsseпgers Foυпd as Skeletoпs iп Their Seats

Iп a shockiпg tυrп of eveпts, a pᴀsseпger plaпe that vaпished 36 years ago has mysterioυsly reappeared, leaviпg experts Ьаffɩed aпd sparkiпg global iпtrigυe. The aircraft, ideпtified…