Check out these rolling stones.
Wikimedia CommonsA pair of glide Lucy Stone on a journey across Death Valley National Park .
Death Valley National Park is the hottest and driest place in North America . Its stark Earth’s surface gets less than two in of rainwater per year , making it an almost uninhabitable blank space . Yet there are signs of life if one looks tight enough . Across the playa creep tortoises , coyote , and other animals that have adjust to the heat and drought .
But perhaps the most mystical things to move across the playas of Death Valley are n’t animals at all . In fact , they ’re not even animated .
Wikimedia CommonsA pair of sailing stones on a journey across Death Valley National Park.
The Sailing Stones
WIkimedia CommonsTwo sailing Stone that diverge from each other on their trek .
In 1915 , thefirst sightingof the sailing stones was recorded . A prospector named Joseph Crook call their environment – the Racetrack Playa incision of the national ballpark – and was scandalise by what he saw .
He draw assure boulders , some as large as two feet in diameter , appearing to roam across the desert on their own . As his story spreadhead , geologists from around the country flock to Death Valley to see these roaming rocks for themselves .
WIkimedia CommonsTwo sailing stones that diverged from each other on their treks.
They dubbed them “ soaring stone ” for the way they appear to sail across the desert . As they mysteriously move , the Harlan F. Stone leave a trail behind , etching pattern in the sand . From above , the lines reveal an even deep mystery . Rather than move aimlessly around the desert , the Stone tend to mirror each other ’s pattern and move in sync . They often twist at the same angles and run parallel to each other through the sand . Overall , the event is mesmerizing .
Even more surprising is the upper with which the sailing stones move . Rather than a few inches per day , as one would expect from a transient rock , the stones can move at velocity of up to 16 invertebrate foot per minute .
For decades , the mysterious movement of the sailing stones amaze geologists . How could these rock , some so heavy they ’d be severe for a human to move , glide so smoothly across the surface of the desert , single-handed by people or brute ?
The tracks the stones leave can go on for several hundred feet.
A Possible Explanation
betimes hypothesesproposed wind as a possible explanation , stating that if the effect was substantial enough , it could drive the rocks across the playa . Other geologist theorized that even the minimal rain the desert receive was the understanding , stating that it create clay that allowed the rocks to slip . Some geologists theorized that it was a combining of both .
In 1972 , geologist Bob Sharp and Dwight Carey began a Harlan F. Stone monitoring project that involved an extensive labeling and observation process . Over seven years , the team strike out individual rock , recorded their progress , and tracked their trajectories .
Their research revealed that most of the sailing stones ’ move come during the wintertime , lead them to believe that ice played a part . Unfortunately , they had to stop their inquiry before make a authoritative determination .
In the former nineties , extra research done by students from Hampshire College and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst revealed that the movement was indeed because of ice , though they added that wind was also a factor . In order of magnitude for the sailing stones to sail , they needed a complete compounding of the two .
The tracks the stones leave can go on for several hundred feet .
in conclusion in 2009 , the mystery of the sailing stones was work for well . investigator light upon that ice is a cause , but that the rock are help oneself along by another factor no one had consider before : the sun .
On the uncommon juncture when it does rain in Death Valley , the water is quickly steep and stored in the land . In the winter months and in the cool spring and fall , when temperatures degenerate the groundwater freeze . As it freezes , it rises to the open , creating a paper - thin sheet of ice beneath the rocks .
Then , as the Lord’s Day rise and warms the terra firma , the methamphetamine hydrochloride melts , create rivers of water that push the stones across the playa . They only stop when the water dries , or when the piss freezes again . If a Edward Durell Stone reach a peculiarly dry area , the gemstone will stop to move .
Though the mystery of the seafaring stones has been solved , it does n’t make them any less interesting . The idea of seeing nonliving object roaming aimlessly and creating mirroring patterns in the sand is still a spate to behold .
After get word about the sailplaning Stone of Death Valley , check out theseintricate Tibetan backbone house painting . Then , read about the Aral Sea , once a desert haven that ’s now just a desert .
