30 May 2013

The Sailing Stones of Racetrack Playa

Slate has an article about a bizarre phenomenon:

Scattered about the Racetrack Playa in Death Valley, California are large rocks with mysterious zig-zagging trails behind them (photo). The trails are evidence that these rocks have moved, as much as 820 feet in a single winter, leaving zig-zag trails across the ground. There are over 150 such animate rocks. And, as of yet, no one has ever seen them move.
In 1972 a team of scientists set out to unravel the mystery. They named a group of stones and did surveys of the area over a seven-year period. A seven hundred-pound block dubbed Karen, which didn't move at all while under study, was entirely missing when they returned years later. A sighting of the seven-hundred-pound Karen was later made over half a mile from the survey site.
Teams have continued to study the phenomenon and believe that winter ice and strong winds, which can reach upwards of ninety miles per hour, are responsible for the stones' movement. 

Rico says sounds like an opportunity for a little GoPro camera set on really slow recording...

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