Curious case of sailing stones of Death Valley

Nov4,2023

The sailing stones, or sliding stones, of Racetrack Playa have been observed and studied since the early 1900s

Sailing Stones

It was long thought that strong winds pushed the stones. More fanciful theories involved magnetic fields.

Power of wind?

A group of researchers aided by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, NASA and others announced they had solved the mystery. 

Mystery solved

On sunny days, melting caused the ice to break into large floating panels that, driven by light winds, pushed against the rocks to move them, leaving tracks on the desert floor. 

Ice break

The team established a weather station near Racetrack Playa and added 15 of their own stones to the playa. The added stones had GPS tracking units attached.

Racetrack Playa

According to Wikipedia, these sailing stones are slabs of dolomite and syenite ranging from a few hundred grams to hundreds of kilograms.

Wikipedia 

The mystery of the sailing stones of Racetrack Playa in Death Valley was solved in 2014. Scientists found that the rocks were pushed by thin floating panels of ice driven by light winds.

Panels of ice