Deep in the heart of the California desert lies one of the natural world’s most puzzling mysteries: the moving rocks of Death Valley.
These are not ordinary moving rocks that tumble down mountainsides in avalanches, are carried along riverbeds by flowing water, or are tossed aside by animals.
These rocks, some as heavy as 700 pounds, are inexplicably transported across a virtually flat desert plain, leaving erratic trails in the hard mud behind them, some hundreds of yards long.
They move by some mysterious force, and in the nine decades since we have known about them, no one has ever seen them move.
Until now that is!
Racetrack Playa is the seasonally dry lake (a playa) located in the northern part of the Panamint Mountains in Death Valley National Park, California, U.S.A. that is famous for ‘sailing stones‘.
One cold winter morning, when the snowmelt covered the playa, the solution to the puzzle was finally caught on film.
That kick ass photo above is by MeLastMohican. I have no idea what his real name is, but he Related
That doesn’t explain how stones heavier than cars are moved!
Looks like you were right! Good Call!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/27/death-valley-sailing-stones-solved_n_5718827.html
Well, maybe not you, exactly, but the guy in the video, lol.
has anyone considered the rotation of the earth as a factor. i know its not the needed force to move these rocks but it could help!
but i have seen stones and trails turn at exactly 90 degrees, help me understand.
Not bad! Desolate Desert, windy, cold, wet, rare and (when frozen) inaccessible! Such an event, only a patient multi-copter robot of the future will ever witness. It’s far too cold and boring for humans to wait for. This explanation makes perfect sense to me.
Drive a round stake next to one and “anchor” it to it’s surrounding ice. Perhaps you can force a rock to pivot (attached to the ice) around the stake, leaving “proof grooves” in the mud. Just a thought.
Its Electric Tune! . The Area is unique electron charges can be every where in high peak mountain and surrounding area. As Electric tune resonate in appropriate frequency and the speed almost speed of light it will flood in the area by this wave. The embedded clay is acting like resistor to avoid grounding of the energy also we known that ice water is isolator also. Heating or Cooling the rock materials make the electric tune penetrates as tunneling/duality effect and charge. The Continuous of electric tune absorbed by rock it will reverse the gravitation and the force come out and make movement. First we need small lift to make a movement in any mobile to work. Did somebody test the changes in weight of this rocks?
In Ancient history I think that whole area of Egypt is one time full of mountain peaks and Rocks. And Electric tune was flooded by the area. One depiction shown for electric tune was in dendera where snake inside the rock. Its electric tune inside the rock to releif in weights.
Hope my theory helps!
If the water moves the stones, then they would just be floating across the surface, not dragging. So they wouldn’t leave a trail behind, right?
Well, no. If the water is moving fast enough, it could push it along. This isn’t speaking directly about the article, but in terms of physics, the rocks could have been pushed along by the water. And, it just occurred to me that you said floating. Forgive me if I’m mistaken, but I DOUBT that those rocks can float.
Well, after reading through so much websites featuring this amazement, I’m just wondering.. why is everybody guessing and assuming.. given the level of tech advancement now, we could jolly plant a camera there with nightvision capabilities to record every second of it and I’m sure the truth will be told. The question is, who really wants to do it? haha perhaps, somebody wants to avoid the truth and acknowledging that there are supernatural stuff or non-human beings involved? I don’t know.. I’m just so curious about it now. =]
The theory and most provable is that it’s from strong wind gusts.. why does no one do research anymore.. you people sit there and guess an guess when there are explainable facts to these phenomenons!
Hmmmmmmm….. Someone/something MAKE the trail behind the rocks, and it got started somehow that they move?? Seems like a crop circle “mystery” here.
Solved? Why doesn’t the video show it actually happening, and why are the rocks moving in random directions? I call BS!
It could just be something so obvious that we have overlooked. I mean dont be afraid to be random in your guesing. Try to think as hard as you can to a logical explination. I have done this type of thinking before and what i had guessed was right. Like, once i had watched a video about unexplained high walls of “water waves” that had repeatedly sunk small boats and ships in large lakes near mountains, the scientists in the beginning of the video could not think of an explination, i thought logically and outside the box and came up with the idea that large rock slides or maybe a large rock had caused the large “walls of water” by simply falling into the lake from an earth quake, [just like throwing a large stone into a pool will give you a bigger splash than just blowing on the water], my guess was proved right because at the end of the video after much testing the group of scientists in the video had came up with the same answer. Sometimes just think different and simple with what information is given to you.
The reason they don’t want you to know how the stones move move is because its the answer to how the great pyramids of Egypt were constructed. And when I say ” they” I mean Bigfoot and when I say ” great pyramids” I mean alien space craft and when I say “you” I mean idiot!! Ha ha
ive seen these lines several times although the rocks werent moving. i think something underground is causing it, such as water or gasoline or oil. my friend says aliens….. but i dont believe that
I’m wondering if perhaps the rocks are composed of a magnetic element, if so depending on conditions of water, ice, mud and probably a few other factors couldn’t magnetic attraction acount for the movement? With gusting winds it would explain the erratic trails, the winds moving each rock slightly different amounts and directions depending on size and aerodynamics of the different shapes of each stone. Eh just an idea.
same thing i thought and you posted day after my bday
If you look real close to the right, you can see the turtles head.
WHY dont they follow the stone … at the end,
maybe there is a hidden treasure or lost city beneath = )
IS IT ONLY AT THIS PLACE ON THE EARTH THAT THIS HAPPENS ? CANT SOMEBODY FIGURE IT OUT IN THIS DAY AND AGE P.S. I AM FROM RAMSBOTTOM IN LACASHIRE IF U WANT A FIGHT LET ME KNOW !!
I’m in. What’s the fight? Shall we meet with rapiers at dawn? Or are you more of a pistols type guy?
Fight about what? Lol
youre fired
how long do they take to travel per say a year a metre ? does enybody mesure the tracks at regular intervals or is it too cold for the boffins to go out there my man dad said its little green men moving them wen nobody is looking..
Your “man” dad? as opposed to your mom dad?
Obviously that’s not right! I’ve just read a bit about them and it said that some scientists have considered water that moves it along, but then other scientists have denied it because they usually move in the summer, when it gets really hot. Which still leaves us at the puzzling question, and the definite answer, there is no explanation. Until further notice, the Sailing Stones of Death Valley remains an unanswered, unexplored mystery…
hello its humid in the summer so water does move it
Although the film doesn’t show it, I could see this happening.
Picture it this way: The water slowly creeps into the bed, the same way it has done time and time again for generations. It flows in and out the same way, over and over again.
Now, often, the temp drops. When it does, the top layer of this water becomes frozen. It freezes in large sheets. But often it continues to rise a little after the top freezes. This would have the effect of floating these ice sheets in some direction, perhaps in contour with the land, even uphill.
Now imagine how the water surrounds the rock, even freezes around it. The ice is very bouyant, especially in large sheets. Now, instead of having a single rock held in place by gravity, you have a giant floating ice sheet with the lake bed slowly filling.
The rock doesn’t have to move much, just a little each time. I suppose you could probably test this in a bucket by putting a rock in, letting the top freeze over, then adding more water. Just what ratio of ice to density of rock would you need to lift it?
Yeah, I guess that is like what happened with the glaciers: they froze over the rocks, moved forward, dragging the rocks or rolling the rocks along… and then dropped them all over hillsides, sometimes in huge piles, like in California, or in farmers’ fields… but then you would see evidence of ice scratching hte mud, wouldnt you?
Okay, Jeff, that’s a good idea, but answer me this. The wind is blowing in one direction at any given moment, and therefore, that’s the way the ice flows. Am I right so far? So why is it that the rocks “picked up” by the ice still do not move in the same direction or similar intervals of distance. The rocks are still, in fact, moving in opposite directions, different intervals, and are even different sizes. Now, your hypothesis would be valid if all the rocks moved there same direction, but in reality, rocks the started at centimeters apart which are similar in size, move in completely different directions. I think we are looking at more than ice flows here. Maybe they may aid the movement. But by themselves, I don’t see that happening.
Would that theory also account for the trails they leave, or would the ice lift them above ground?
DEW
In a non related quest that included our four seasons, experiments showed me that black ice is a product of dew not atmosphere. Although they are both slippery most of us have experienced the difference.
Summer has dew and none due mornings.
Winter has black ice or frost mornings.
Dew is Earths natural way of supplying water to life in deserts or you could say.
Dew is produced by the Earth and species evolve because of this phenomenon.
Could it be as simple as the likes of black ice to be the reason of Avalanche?
An accumulation of mature frost or snow would be binding and would not easily slide on it’s self so I propose that for whatever reason a layer of frozen dew or black ice is laid down and it’s this layer that the avalanche people are finding in their snow blocks.
My goodness could it be this frozen dew that moves glaciers or the reason for mud or rock slides (the likes of Franks Slide)!
And yes by golly with black ice and a bit of wind those huge boulders easily meander about the desert of Death Valley.
A little common sense will have most considering that if said boulder were placed on Black Ice wind could move it. But — these meandering boulders are not placed on ice and are stationary. So how can ice form between the boulder (glacier) and ground!
(easy)
ALL MATTER PRODUCES OXYGEN!
EXAMPLE:
You could say, for instance, how in heck could a piece of wood, no longer a live tree, produce oxygen?
The liquid ingredient of water has vacated your two by four (rock). The cells of this dead piece of wood still contain an active water cell nucleus with its orbiting nuclei. This cell nucleus contains the complete make-up of the tree and constantly reproduces itself as nuclei (aura). The aura of this piece of two by four, with cold temperature, produces water as dew.
And yes by golly with black ice and a bit of wind those huge boulders easily meander about the desert of Death Valley.
cbc.ca bruce voigt
I’m afraid it’s not as simple as that. While it would would work it doesn’t quite explain the trail they leave. To me, when I see a trail like that, it means an amount of force is involved. While the wind speed and ice combination would work, I don’t think we would see trails as deep or as long if it was just those. Also, they’re wouldn’t be as much sharp turns and other trail inconsistencies, This would be easy to explain, if the trails they left didn’t contradict, things.
Another thing to say against it simply being the black ice phenomenon and winds. We would see stuff like this in other parts of the world. The fact that this is an isolated event, suggests something other then “normal” means. By normal I mean something that is common in all parts of the world, such as dew and wind.
The rocks just know where they ar going
we are a little known tribe of injuns and we live underneath the lake bed and move them with magic sticks .so there is ur ansa so please go away and leave us in peace por vavor.
this is known to be happening for almost 100 years. Isn’t there a pile of rocks at one end?
I moved them (was bored). Sorry for all the trouble. I’ll put them back.
This seems fake to me…some shots of tide water or something ….it could even be him with a bucket !
no rocks moved ! Come on people don’t be so easily fooled!
Sorry, Shawn.
My bad
I agree with Shaun but I don’t believe ice sheets come into it. The wind blows water onto the exposed side of a rock, at night the water freezes and expands. This force could easily be enough to move a very large rock; when the wind direction changes the exposed side changes and thus the direction of travel. The shape of rock is also a factor. Is this what you were proposing Shaun?
The photos show all GENERALLY moving it the same direction. Is it from east to west? The cause could be differential heating of one side and then the other over the course of the day. First the sun heats up the east side, and it expands a bit, shifting the stone’s CG a tiny bit to the west as it “pivots” about the base on the shady side. Things equalize at mid-day. In the late afternoon the east side cools first, allowing that side to contract a tiny bit. After dark the west side cools, shrinking it and again shifting the CG a tiny bit west. They could test this by putting a open tent over a stone but with side flaps that would keep the sunlight from striking it directly.
A similar thing happens to Donald Judd’s aluminium boxes in a Marfa, TX museum that also gets lots of sun and is situated such that the early morning and late afternoon sunlight streams in from the large windows and strikes the boxes. See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinati_Foundation
Problem with much of the speculation here, they do NOT move in a single direction. Two can move together and then one turns while the other continues straight. Two can move together, then one slows down. Two can move together then one backs up. I suppose the sun changed direction on those day for one of the rocks?
Also notice the mound of clay ahead of the rocks, not pressed underneath, but out in front. These rocks moved swiftly and stopped swiftly!
Just because it is not caught on tape does not make this theory wrong. No one has seen mountains form but we know how they got here. If it is an ice sheet moving the rocks then the height of the rock in question as well as the center of gravity should be considered. My theory is: Ice is moving the rocks but the randomness in the shape of the rock and the rock along with the center of gravity can cause the rock to drag or plow in different directions. If you pushed or pulled a odd shaped rock… It would flip and flop all over the place. But make it slow like the ice sheet…. then you can get long lines and odd and unexplained direction shift. This again would be linked to the height and shape of the rock. Water freezing can produce force around 114,000psi so a rock is very easy ( no matter what size ) to move . Just my thoughts!
Time and pressure can do a remarkable things . And being that the rocks have all the time in the world to move. And the world has the pressure. It’s no surprise to me. it seems that people think too deeply about the subject . in that valley i bet the winds could be in excessive of 80 miles per hour 4 days on end. and given the mud and ice factor rocks will move . look at what tornadoes can do with just with wind. try living in the windy parts of wyoming and you’ll understand . i must say it’s interesting and it gets people to thinking. but don’t try to get to scientific about it.
darin-
That’s the fun of it ! Trying to explain the inexplicable with science ! Actually, all we have here is a collection of some really interesting theories, and some interesting opinions; but that’s what makes a mystery so much fun !
Erm, the solution to the puzzle was NOT caught on film. No one saw a rock move. They saw water moving…. fail
Roger ROGER !
What about that 700 pound rock? How’s a thin sheet of ice gonna move a behemoth like that?
Was reading up on it and it appears that rock, “Karen” moved about 800 meters from 1979-1996. Still seems like a mystery to me….
i went out with karen rock . she was slow .
THE STONE NAMED KAREN DISAPERED AFTER A BAD WINTER ONLY TO BE DISCOVERED YEARS LATER MILES AWAY OFF THE VALLEY FLOOR . I H8NK TS LKE THE CROP CIRCLES. A BIG HOAX.
Ok so that is a good explanation but about the fact that the water would wash away the trail?!?!? Scince it is said to be pulled by the ice and water how do the trails remain?!!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!??!
goto Curtis Rx’s site he has a couple theory’s there even a copy of 1 of 3 books left about the rock the theory in the book is way better than this makes TUNS more sense and yes i didnt see one rock move if the rocks way from 20-700 pounds how would that water move it or even ice for that matter it couldnt its way to heavy… Curtis Rx look him up he’s from the band creature feature :D
Now theres a theory that makes sence. As for the rocks in proximity of others that dont move, I think you will find that the non-moving rocks are kept in place because of jaged surfaces facing down, anchoring them, where the moving rocks were likely to have a smooth surface oriented against the surface of the mud. Also if this ice sheet is the force that is pushing these rocks, mabe the jaged surfaces facing up is fractureing the ice rather than letting it push them. At any rate that would answer some of the theorys. What about the large rocks, and how big are the largest rocks with trails behind them? Any as big as say a 5 gallon bucket? or a dish-washer or a similar size? Id think the force to move such a large size would negate the ice-flow theory……..at any rate its an interesting mystery
Try and push an irregularly shaped rock in a straight line with a broom, stick, board, car, or even your hand. Hard isn’t it!
Also, try pulling an irregularly shaped rock in a straight line by tying a string to it. Doesn’t track in a straight line does it?
Unless you have a hockey puck, a blemish-free sliding surface, and a perfectly uniform sheet of ice being blown by a perfectly straight wind, the track that is going to be left when all is said and done will not be straight.
Why exactly is it surprising that non-linear tracks are left by the irregularyl shaped rocks, which are being pushed by irregularly shaped ice, which is in turn being pushed by irregular wind? Also consider that the sheets of ice will encounter other bigger rocks or surface irregularities creating friction and pivoting of the direction of force.
Experiment: sprinkle a little sand on a frozen pond surface. Put a rock on it. Get a piece of thin plywood and cut it in a random shape. Now put that next to the rock. Stand behind the sheet of plywood. Now push it and see if you can make it track in a straight line.
Very interesting, EXCEPT- this would only result in short changes in direction, as these forces are randomly but constantly acting on the rocks, and the tracks seem to extend for long distances in fairly consistent directions. If we’re counting on wind to act with the porepressure, etc, allowing the ice to suspend the stones and the wind to act on it, we should be able to research the direction of prevailing winds and see if that helps the explanation, except that the tracks are long enough and consistent enough and happen over a long enough span of time that randomness is reintroduced into the process, which seems to work against the theory. Try the hocky puck thing and you’ll see what I mean. Which day did the prevailinfg winds shift, and did they stay from that direction long enough to sustain the track, when other nearby stones move in other seemingly unrelated directions?
all the rocks and stones r going on holiday and r trying to get to stonehenge , cuzthats how they got there ,they have little wheels under them and a sail cmes out the top which us humans can not see.
What I think needs to be added to the explanation is the effect of pore pressure at the interface between the bottom of the stone and the wet mud surface. Pore pressure is a resisting upward force generated by a film of water that occurs around and between mud particles and confined by the block of rock above it. Since water is virtually incompressible, the object is able to move laterally in response to a temporary current produced by the advancing edge of the temporary lake. But the pore pressure “buoys” up the rock, and it can slide on extremely low slopes, such as that of the playa (normally an intermittently wet, surface of deposition in a dry climate environment.
It is sort of analogous to hydroplaning tires on wet pavement. The tires are not in contact with the pavement because of the film of water between the tires and the pavement. Water cannot be compressed, so any confined water in the tread builds up pore pressure, and floats the car (or the rock). Sometimes you can see a water glass with a wet bottom slide in funny directions on a table.
:-) Knowing how the trick is done doesn’t make it any less magical
water seeping upward through the ground freezes on the surface in cold times. I have previously observed these long icicles which appear to grow from the ground and carry topsoil. The frozen crystals should have sufficient power to move the rock very slightly in the upward direction. When the sun shines again, it causes the ice to melt where there is no shadow, causing the rock to sag in that direction. Upon sagging “forward” the rest of the ice will melt or alternatively the ice will grow under it again. This causes an inching effect, the reason for the paths is that the ice will generally grow everywhere, however the rock has a compaction effect of the ground it is situated on. Irregular rocks have irregular shadows and hence the differential preference in direction, direction can change depending on the time of year and the position of the sun relative to the rock, there is also the possibility of rock rotation, based on the same principle. Does anyone agree?
same here. also, why wouldn’t stones be dragged back as water receded.
Also look at thisSliding Rock Locations and Trail Lengths, July 1996. The video doesn’t explain why the rocks have different patterns in their movement and generally move uphill (the northern section of the playa is a few centimetres higher than the southern end)
Another short but interesting read The Racetrack Playa – Death Valley, California
I just watched the video but I never actually saw a rock moving just the water flowing.
I noticed the same thing ! It seemed easy to zoom in on stationary stones, but no inclusion of a stone suspended by the water with a close-up of how the water was actually acting on the stone. Ice would do it, I guess, but there’s a whole set of hydrodynamic issues as to the effect of Ice both on the stones and the soil. I could see Ice, maybe, but nothing in the video was definitive. RATS !
The Dunning video was incredibly irresponsible. It showed no stones moving, yet claimed to be the explanation. The real reason the stones slide is due to the common phenomenon known as frost heave. Ice lenses form beneath the surface at the freeze thaw boundary heaving the soil upward and creating a slope for the stones to slide down.
What nonsense! The real reason is the rocks are magic rocks.
Obviously! ;)
You’re making quite a bold assertion yourself sir. One of the most notable aspects of the racing stone phenomenon is that the ground, other than the tracks, remains unaltered. Additionally, the slope of the plain is highly monitored (the elevational difference between the two ends of the valley, about two miles apart, is less than one inch). On top of that, some of these tracks are miles long and were made by stones up to 700 pounds. You mean to say that an entire mile-wide stretch of ground was tilted at enough of an angle for a 700 pound rock to slide all the way across it, and then the ground was restored to its exact previous state without leaving any kind of visible fractures or other alterations to the terrain?
I wonder if the clay surface of the dry lake bed contains the mineral called Kaolin? Kaolinite is a clay.It is a soft, earthy, usually white mineral (dioctahedral phyllosilicate clay), produced by the chemical weathering of aluminium silicate minerals like feldspar. In many parts of the world, it is colored pink-orange-red by iron oxide, giving it a distinct rust hue.It is widely used as a replacement for talc.It is also used as a lubricant.It is what gives glossy paper it slick shiny appearance.
If kaolinite is leeching out of the clay when it is wet or submerged with water the surface would become very slick!
i have had quite enuff of this nonsence i am buying a tent and sum stuff and going up there 2 put my tent up fight in the biggest stones path and if it bumbs in to my tent wen i am a sleep or when i am sitting there watching the thing to move i will have soved it p.s. i have 2 dogs .can i take them there and shud i pack a bikini ?? and ifthatctommy wainwright at top of this blogg wants a fight . u know were i am !!!!
It is also interesting to note that the crinkled surface of the mud remains relatively unchanged. I am guessing that the mud is frozen or baked hard so that the water flow doesn’t change it but a rock dragging across the surface would. Without that video, one would have to assume some hippies from Burning Mans wondered over in the night and did the rearranging.
MG, all bodies of water and sections of those bodies of water will have the same density…I think it would depend on current or the size of the rocks, possibly how deep they are embedded?
Wow.. it’s odd that it washes over some rocks, completely ignoring them. I guess it’s a matter of which area of water is the most dense. Forwarding this one to a few friends :)
r u being ironic man !!! ur making me nasty . u wont like me wen i am nasty……the stones r my experiment so leave them alone or there will b a toll on the valley man . eerrrm keep out. that goes for u 2 dog !!!!
That really is a trip … it does make me a little sad, though, that I didn’t go down to Black Rock City this year for the Burning Man festival. Man dad is a geophysicist and he really enjoys the ‘racing rocks’ phenomenon because geological time is usually so slow!