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posted by janrinok on Thursday September 04 2014, @08:34PM   Printer-friendly
from the every-time-I-look-away dept.

A few days back we reported the phenomenon of the Moving Stones found in several locations around the world including, most famously, Death Valley. Community member evilviper and an Anonymous Coward update us with reports that they have now been filmed:

Remember those stones in death valley which leaves mysterious tracks across the desert floor? Turns out they've been caught in the act and the process responsible for it is liquid water and thin sheets of ice.

Geologists have been studying the moving rocks since 1948, when the first scientific study suggested they were driven by dust devils. Theories over the decades have included sporadic hurricane-force winds when the surface is covered with rain water, or rocks carried across the mud by small rafts of ice, or UFOs. But until the Norrises had an incredible stroke of luck that day last December, no one had scientifically verified the phenomenon.

http://www.thestar.com.my/Lifestyle/Features/2014/09/03/Solved-The-riddle-of-the-rolling-rocks/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailing_stones

http://arstechnica.com/science/2014/09/death-valleys-famous-moving-stones-caught-in-the-act/

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Death Valley's Moving Rocks Mystery Solved 12 comments

An article published in plosone.org finally solves the mystery of sailing stones. Rocks from the size of pebbles to boulders that move and inscribe long tracks along a smooth valley floor without human or animal intervention, most notable on Racetrack Playa. TFA has some nice pictures documenting the movements.

Essentially, this happens when there's enough water to cover the playa, but not enough to submerge the rocks. At night time, the water freezes and the next day it may melt sufficiently to create ice sheets floating on a shallow pool. Even light wind are able to move these ice-sheets which, even when they break around large rocks, exercise enough pressure to move them.

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  • (Score: 4, Funny) by Random2 on Thursday September 04 2014, @08:54PM

    by Random2 (669) on Thursday September 04 2014, @08:54PM (#89501)
    --
    If only I registered 3 users earlier....
    • (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Thursday September 04 2014, @11:54PM

      by Thexalon (636) on Thursday September 04 2014, @11:54PM (#89587)

      Hey, it wouldn't be a nerdy news discussion site without dupes!

      --
      The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
  • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 04 2014, @08:58PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 04 2014, @08:58PM (#89505)

    Your mom's valley makes my stones move.

  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by bob_super on Thursday September 04 2014, @08:59PM

    by bob_super (1357) on Thursday September 04 2014, @08:59PM (#89507)

    "Studied" since 1948, but nobody thought of just leaving a camera pointing at the things until a few weeks ago?

    Someone was clearly milking their grant providers.

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by frojack on Thursday September 04 2014, @11:41PM

      by frojack (1554) on Thursday September 04 2014, @11:41PM (#89583) Journal

      Months if not years of nothing happening at all. That's all they would have captured.

      The stones only moved for brief periods of movement after a rain and a cold snap.
      Nobody had any idea you needed rain followed by ice followed by high winds.
      Pretty specific set of circumstances.

      --
      No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
      • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday September 05 2014, @12:04AM

        by bob_super (1357) on Friday September 05 2014, @12:04AM (#89590)

        Well, if you're "studying" the motion of something, wouldn't the first thing be observing the motion?
        If you can't live near them, come every $period to take a picture, figure out what happened around the time when they moved (starting with weather, since high winds have always been a suspect), and then come back every time the conditions are similar, until you narrow it down.
        Granted, weather forecasts for desert areas are not highly detailed or accurate even today, but that shouldn't have taken so long to figure out... especially if RAIN is a significant contributor to a desert phenomenon.

        • (Score: 3, Insightful) by frojack on Friday September 05 2014, @12:28AM

          by frojack (1554) on Friday September 05 2014, @12:28AM (#89599) Journal

          Did it occur to you this was NOBODY's priority? The place is in the middle of frikkin nowhere.

          In hind sight its easy to say they shoulda they coulda. But even Wiki says The stones move only every two or three years and most tracks develop over three or four years. This has always been an out of pocket study.

          --
          No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
  • (Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 04 2014, @09:26PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 04 2014, @09:26PM (#89519)

    August 28
    Death Valley's Moving Rocks Mystery Solved [soylentnews.org]

    -- gewg_

    • (Score: 2) by janrinok on Friday September 05 2014, @02:06AM

      by janrinok (52) Subscriber Badge on Friday September 05 2014, @02:06AM (#89649) Journal

      gewg_, if you read the very first line, I acknowledge that it was reported on Aug 28. The video of the movement is new - or at least it was to me.

      OFFTOPIC: You made some layout suggestions on a recent submission - but without an email address I cannot contact you. If you wish to remain anonymous then communication between us is next to impossible.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 04 2014, @09:44PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 04 2014, @09:44PM (#89526)

    The very first link is b0rked.