The Strange Reason Massive Rocks Are Moving Across The American Southwest
In Death Valley National Park in California, there is a dry lakebed called Racetrack Playa that hosts a bizarre phenomenon that scientists have been attempting to explain for decades. In this dried-out region, there are what are known as “sailing stones,” which are rocks that can weigh as much as 700 pounds and inexplicably move on their own. However, in 2014, researchers finally conducted an experiment that explained the science behind the sailing stones and weather is the cause of this rock migration.
Rock And Roll
A decade ago, scientists finally wanted some answers about what was going on with the sailing stones, so they fitted them with motion-activated GPS and set up cameras to observe them. Despite clear evidence that the stones had moved due to trails in the ground, nobody had ever observed it happening. Some of the stones moved so infrequently that it only happened once per decade. And even then, it could often be less than 10 feet that they moved.
However, with the cameras and GPS setup, scientists finally got to see the sailing stones in action for themselves. They had already theorized that the seemingly erratic movement patterns of the stones had something to do with the wind, but that alone could not explain rocks as large as 700 pounds moving to a new location. The truth was that the weather actually was responsible, though in a more complex fashion than anticipated.
Movement Per Minute
The cameras were set up to observe a select handful of the sailing stones for around two years, during which time the scientists were able to see around 60 of the stones move up to 16 feet per minute. During these instances, the scientists soon noticed a pattern that explained the movement of the rocks, even the ones that would have been too heavy for human hands to move.
Slip’n’Slide
The study found that the sailing stones moved on occasion after it rained during the night. This would result in the Racetrack Playa developing a sheet of ice over it while it was dark. However, when the sun came out, it would quickly start melting the ice away. As this happened, the sheet of ice would break off into sections that would travel along the sleek pathway of melt-off, pushing into the rocks. These slippery conditions and the momentum of the ice chunks would actually be capable of shoving the stones along the ground.
Magic Becomes Science
While these findings debunk many of the mystical explanations that people enjoyed creating to explain the existence of the sailing stones, they did finally provide concrete answers. When the movement of the stones was first realized in the middle of the 1900s, the technology simply did not exist to devote to such a long-term project.
The Inspiration For Supernatural Legends
Phenomena like the sailing stones are the sort of thing that has inspired many legends and local folklore throughout history. While the mystery of why nature behaves the way it does can be fun, it is also gratifying when science is finally able to provide an answer for something that has long mystified people.
Source: Plos One
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