The Sliding Rocks of Racetrack Playa

The Sliding Rocks of Racetrack Playa

geology.com

"Scientists can't figure out why these rocks - weighing up to several hundred pounds each - slide across a dry lake bed. The leading theory proposes that wind moves the rocks after a rain when the lake bed consists of soft and very slippery mud.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Wow,
this is almost as good as the Red Rain from India
as featured with Popular Science.

geology.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Interesting post. I looked into this odd event and found the following video that may answer your mystery.

Very interesting video, Rhain. I had heard of these for years, and no one seemed to have an answer.

Good find. Worth a star from me.

Yes, worth a star, good find. All it takes is persistence and the unexplained supernatural becomes something quite simple.

That sux however. Does this mean that the thread has been killed and the sliding rocks debunked? I kinda miss not having the mystery now.

reply to post by PontiacWarrior


I truly am sorry to have your thread cut short. I had run across this video a few months ago and was saddened that the mystery was over. I like the unresolved romance around unknown.

'cuse me... what have this to do with breaking news ??????

I think it must have been 1956 or 7 I first heard about them.

When I first heard about this place, I wondered if it could have been due to a combo of Chandler wobble and water. Some sites I went to discussed it being due to water and wind. Here are some images I came across about a year ago:
Ground Truth Investigations
The Sliding Rocks in Racetrack Playa

Visits to the Racetrack in January of 2005 documented in galleries 2 and 3 reveal the normally dry playa about a third then a sixth or less covered with up to 6 inches of water.

A follow-up investigation twelve days later in February 2005, documented in the 4 pages of gallery 4 reveals an abundance of long new tracks covered by a thin skin of water at the southeastern end of the playa.