Rocks that move on their own - strangeness

I've just run across this article that I wanted to share with the ATS community. It addresses the phenomena of medium-sized rocks... about the size of a loaf of bread.. that seem to be self-propelled- in Death Valley, California. Some of them haven't moved for years... and some rock movement tracks... when investigated, have No Rock at the end of them. Maybe they're looking at the wrong end?

High strangeness. It doesn't make sense, because the rocks move in different directions.

Does anyone have any clues Hoax?

article: Tracking the rolling stones of Racetrack Playa

I have heard about this, it isn't a hoax.. But was was explained. But I can't remember how it was explained..Something to do with flash floods?

It's wind

reply to post by MarkJS


Geologists have been looking into this since the 1940's and I do not believe that it is a hoax. One possible explanation could be intensified winds combined with the composition of saturated clay where the rocks reside.

Originally posted by blindlyzack
It's wind

How do you suppose that?

reply to post by blindlyzack

It's wind

... maybe... but if it's wind...then wouldn't all the rocks be moving in the same direction?

solved



for those who can't view, it's a combination of water pooling in the lake at one end, strong winds pushing that water across the surface, covering rocks in the process and then that water freezing at night when the temps plummet. These sheets of ice then crack and shift and drag the rocks with them before melting away, leaving only the rocks and their trails.

reply to post by TXRabbit

reply to post by yeahright

That could be part of what's going on...

In the Wikipedia article- Thanks YeaRight, they mention a stone they named Karen. Karen is big, like 700 lbs. They say that she just disappeared one day, and that there were no tire tracks or anything to account for someone taking the small boulder... weird.

The article also states:

Trail length also varies – two similarly sized and shaped rocks may travel uniformly, then one could move ahead or stop in its track.

... doesn't really make sense if it's only wind... does it? Maybe there's a small bump in the way of one of the rocks... not big, but big enough to stop the rock from moving. Ya...that makes sense.

it's wind and ice.

the wind pushes the rocks down an ice trail at night when it freezes

I believe this has happened in Panama as well but with huge boulders. Regardless, it's been explained by science, there was a special years ago on the sailing stones on the Discovery Channel and they also mentioned the huge boulders in Central America.

if it's ice, why would it displace the dirt around it like it was pushed.

shouldn't it just have glided until the ice melted leaving no trace it was moved.

Yes my point exactly....how come the depressed trails?
Looks like the rock was propelled through muddy groud or slush.....
the flat rock seems very flat for a windblown boulder......and its stuck into the ground like it was pushed there....

This topic and thread has been chosen to be discussed by the ATS LIVE crew this Saturday between 6-9pm pst as part of this weeks Turbo Topics segment.


LOW BANDWIDTH STREAM NOW AVAILABLE - We now run a 32kbps stream for those of you with slower connections. You can connect to the low bandwidth stream by clicking here.

www.shoutcast.com...

We are still running at 256kbps through the ATS Player, and there are also options to listen via other players on our relay site at www.illustrial.net...



Hope you'll listen in!
Johnny

Question... if this is the desert... how can ice form under for example, a 700 lb boulder- enough to make it swayable by the wind? WTF?

It seems that the 700 lbs is enough weight to keep ice from forming underneath it and raising it up.... yes/no?

Originally posted by stirling
Yes my point exactly....how come the depressed trails?
Looks like the rock was propelled through muddy groud or slush.....
the flat rock seems very flat for a windblown boulder......and its stuck into the ground like it was pushed there....

The explanation was in the video. The water flows around the rocks during the day time and then freezes around them at night. But the ice keeps moving pushing the entrapped rocks along with it. Since the water flowed around the rocks they maintain their original depth of just a slight amount into the mud.

On a massive scale it is similar to how the glaciers pushed large boulders ahead of them as they advanced leaving the trails and the rocks in place when they melted at the end of the ice age.

reply to post by happykat39

If so, why is it that only in certain places can ice move these huge, heavy objects? If ice moves them, then why doesn't ice move all kinds of objects wherever ice is formed?

Well, when ice is- it does create havoc with roads, creating potholes. But I don't see anything on top of the roads, or on top of the ground moving in the winter... especially with trails behind it....

Originally posted by MarkJS
reply to post by happykat39

 

If so, why is it that only in certain places can ice move these huge, heavy objects? If ice moves them, then why doesn't ice move all kinds of objects wherever ice is formed?

Well, when ice is- it does create havoc with roads, creating potholes. But I don't see anything on top of the roads, or on top of the ground moving in the winter... especially with trails behind it....

edit on 5/12/2012 by MarkJS because: (no reason given)

Because the "racetrack" is a special case where the ice forms and flows differently from other places. Since it is the cold night air that freezes the ice on the sun warmed mud the ice freezes from the top while remaining liquid on the bottom for a longer period than usual. This allows the ice to continue to flow after the top freezes enough to carry the rocks with it.

And there are probably some examples of it happening in other places as well but not often enough and not leaving long enough lasting evidence to draw attention.

The "racetrack" is a huge flat pan of dried mud that stays undisturbed between water/ice flow events and so preserves the evidence for a much longer time.

reply to post by happykat39

Because the "racetrack" is a special case where the ice forms and flows differently from other places.

Are you saying that the laws of physics are different in Racetrack Playa? Maybe not... Sorry to say, but it sounds like your reaching. Good try though.

I don't think you answered my question of how ice forms underneath these rocks and huge, 700lb. boulders... enough to raise them up so that the wind can to propel them along. The phenomenon is still pretty strange to me, and normal physics explanations, for now, doesn't seem to solve the riddle.

Let's say that ice formed... under the wheels of a car on the street. It's big and heavy.. and no matter how much ice forms under the tires in the (very)little depressions/dips of the road surface, or how cold it gets- the car never moves on its own, or from wind.... over the ice... Even on very smooth, new roads- I never hear of cars moving on their own, or by the wind, when parked in the winter. See the dilemma?

I think it's the aliens playing a massive game of chess.

They're sitting up in their spaceships looking down at us questioning what the hell these rocks are doing moving around and laughing their arses off.