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posted by
n1
on Thursday August 28 2014, @05:13PM
from the patents-for-procedurally-generated-asset-movement dept.
from the patents-for-procedurally-generated-asset-movement dept.
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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Death Valley's Moving Rocks Mystery Solved
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In Tulsa, Oklahoma, it is against the law to open a soda bottle without
the supervision of a licensed engineer.
(Score: 1) by Joe Desertrat on Friday August 29 2014, @05:00PM
I don't know about the physics of it but the Racetrack Valley can be subject to some ferocious hurricane force winds, particularly in winter storms. I was there on a fairly mild day and the wind was strong enough to allow me to scramble up a nearly vertical rock face (had it stopped while I was on the way up it would have been interesting). The lake bed, when wet, becomes a slick gumbo that would cause very little friction. My belief was always that when conditions were right for the rocks to move it wasn't very safe or comfortable conditions for observation.