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hikerdmb
hikerdmb
Posts: 423


8/27/2014
hikerdmb
hikerdmb
Posts: 423
I was pretty sure it was UFOs moving the rocks on the Racetrack Playa in Death Valley, but apparently I was wrong. Who would have thought?
http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2014/08/27/watch-death-valleys-rocks-walk-before-your-eyes/

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ziphius
ziphius
Posts: 911


8/27/2014
ziphius
ziphius
Posts: 911
Man, I'm glad that was finally solved! smile

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dsefcik
dsefcik
Administrator
Posts: 2622


8/27/2014
dsefcik
dsefcik
Administrator
Posts: 2622
Are there any rocks left out there or have they finally all been taken?

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hikerdmb
hikerdmb
Posts: 423


8/27/2014
hikerdmb
hikerdmb
Posts: 423
They said in the video they carried 70 rocks out onto the play and tracked them for 2 years before they finally got movement.
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rockhopper
rockhopper
Posts: 668


8/29/2014
rockhopper
rockhopper
Posts: 668
I always thought it was the mud playa in the winter and high winds. It was the ice!
Glad those guys camped out in the bitter wet cold to figure that out
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tommy750
tommy750
Posts: 1048


8/29/2014
tommy750
tommy750
Posts: 1048
A fantastic bit of science to solve this riddle. The PlosOne article is here and is a fun example of careful science solving a rather insignificant yet knotty problem: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0105948

Here's a pic of the actual rock tracks


Figure 2 by tomteske, on Flickr

The weights of some of the rocks are quite impressive! 16.6kg=36.5lbs

journal.pone.0105948.t001 by tomteske, on Flickr
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tommy750
tommy750
Posts: 1048


8/29/2014
tommy750
tommy750
Posts: 1048
dsefcik wrote:
Are there any rocks left out there or have they finally all been taken?


The road goes by the west shore of the playa and most are gone leaving trails like this. If you walk toward the east side, you'll still see some. Was there in November of last year and didn't walk over to the eastern shore so never saw the gps tagged rocks or the weather station.

Purloined Pebbles by tomteske, on Flickr
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