THE SAILING STONES OF RACETRACK PLAYA

 THE SAILING STONES OF RACETRACK PLAYA

The Sailing Stones add mystique to Death Valley but the real strangeness of this place is its desperate isolation, heat and incredible flatness. 

 The Racetrack Playa is an exceptionally flat and dry lakebed located above the northwestern side of Death Valley, in Death Valley National Park, California. The playa is best known for one of the most strangest mysteries of the planet – the sliding rocks. These rocks can be found on the floor of the playa with long trails behind them. Although no one has actually seen the rocks move, the long meandering tracks left behind in the mud surface of the playa attest to their activity. Some of these rocks weigh several hundred pounds and have traveled as far as 1,500 feet, which leaves us with the question: "How do they move?"

One early suggestion was that the rocks were driven by gravity, sliding down a gradual slope over a long period of time. But this theory was discounted when it was revealed that the northern end of the playa is actually several centimeters higher than the southern end and that most of the rocks were in fact traveling uphill.For the past ten years, Dr. Paula Messina, professor of geology at San Jose State University in California, has been tracking the movement of each of the 162 rocks scattered over the playa. Her research suggest that a rare combination of rain and wind conditions enable the rocks to move.Some people have suggested attaching radio transmitters to the rocks or erecting cameras to catch them “in the act” in order to put an end to the speculation. But as Death Valley National Park is 95 percent designated wilderness, all research in the park must be noninvasive. It is forbidden to erect any permanent structures or instrumentation. Further, no one is permitted on the playa when it is wet because each footprint would leave an indelible scar.


How do these stones travel on their own? Its quite hard to believe that the winds there are so strong they they can move an entire stone from one place to other! May be the friction of the ground also plays a significant role.