What is Digg?105 Comments
- ScienceDoc, on 01/16/2008, -9/+60Yes this is interesting. But this is about the 20th time it has been on Digg.
- ordig, on 01/16/2008, -3/+35thanks for the link.
any other pearls of wisdom?
/s - cstatman, on 01/16/2008, -1/+30It's called the "racetrack" and his been studied and documented, and written about extensively.
youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1hoiHvOeGc
US Geological Survery: http://wrgis.wr.usgs.gov/parks/deva/ftrac1.html
essay: http://sophia.smith.edu/~lfletche/deathvalley.html
its been discussed to tears, yet? is still pretty interesting
I'll be there in February, and will give a big Digg shout out ... to the rocks. - wonderchemist, on 01/16/2008, -1/+30Pfft. They're just silicon based life, moving around the only way they know how. We won't realize it until one of them decides to write out "No Kill I"
- ryodoan, on 01/16/2008, -6/+30Well, I am glad it came back for the 20th time because I actually missed the first 19 :)
- calvmari, on 01/16/2008, -2/+26... and a new theory for stone henge emerges!
- Otto, on 01/16/2008, -1/+23Short answer: The wind along the playa is stronger towards the surface and in combination with very thin ice flows in the winter, this is enough to start the stones moving. Once they're moving, the friction decreases by more than half, and they can move quite far all at once. Mostly happens during a winter storm.
They got it on film too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1hoiHvOeGc - allaboutdatiki, on 01/16/2008, -5/+26 ... it's the racetrack, playa. NASCAR for rocks.
- TheSavant, on 01/16/2008, -18/+35It has also been solved. This is no longer a mystery. Do some research. It was pretty interesting to read about.
- blackbeardtron, on 01/16/2008, -1/+16Aaah, Stonehenge! The largest henge in the world!
- nickstl77, on 01/16/2008, -1/+14Yes, interesting article, but it isn't a mystery and hasn't been for some time now. Research revealed a layer of water, wind and sometimes ice helps to propel the rocks across the playa.
More info, and a decent video of the phenomenon is here: http://onemansblog.com/2007/09/06/death-valleys-sa ... - santiago1, on 01/16/2008, -6/+19 Spongebob's driving 'em around, just like the pioneers did.
Squidward: "Hoooold on, there, Jethro!" - Otto, on 01/16/2008, -0/+12"In ancient times, hundreds of years before the dawn of history, lived a strange race of people: the Druids. No one knows who they were, or what they were doing, but their legacy remains hewn into the living rock ... of Stonehenge."
- stevemarciano, on 01/16/2008, -2/+14hate the game, not the playa
- LemurHorde, on 01/16/2008, -2/+13Wikipedia explains it a little more in depth than the article. (hoping digg doesn't kill my link...)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailing_stones - lekahe, on 01/16/2008, -3/+14This is very interesting. I had heard of these before, but this is a very thorough article
- iancorey, on 01/16/2008, -0/+10I often hear diggers complain about the same things posted over and over again. Now I can sympathize. This is caused when there is sufficient depth of water, at night the water will freeze a collar around the rock, the ice is buoyant, the winds push the little rock boats along.
I mean, um... God does it. - forthegift, on 01/16/2008, -3/+12Rocks traveling solo, no problem. But if the mountains start moving, not so sure.
- jcaino, on 01/16/2008, -0/+6it's dolomite, baby!
- dotlizard, on 01/16/2008, -2/+8crop circles, for the agriculturally impaired.
- Ajajadude, on 01/16/2008, -1/+6Probably should start praying if that happens.
- NoCt1, on 01/16/2008, -0/+5Wouldnt the water erase the tracks if it is a flash flood?
- samcrut, on 01/16/2008, -0/+5The wind only effects them when it rains. The ground turns to lubricating mud and the wind can move the rocks a little bit and then the ground hardens when it dries.
- freshyill, on 01/16/2008, -2/+7Can we bury this as inaccurate, since it was solved long ago?
- rodgerdodger5, on 01/16/2008, -0/+4HE IS THE ULTIMATE PLAYA!
- DrunkenSavior, on 01/16/2008, -1/+5Correct me of I'm wrong, but I think the Planet Earth documentary series has time-elapsed video of this that shouldn't be missed. If not, somewhere out there exists TE video of it.
- ouRONIN, on 01/16/2008, -1/+5When there is water on the lake bed it freezes at night. High winds then push the giant sheet of ice along with the rocks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1hoiHvOeGc - fani, on 01/16/2008, -0/+4My money is on rock # 3
- DrunkenSavior, on 01/16/2008, -0/+3What a beautiful Landsat image!
C'mon fellow geology nerds, back me up here! :( - benjic, on 01/16/2008, -3/+6Heres how it goes down. You have an area with high winds and drastic temperature changes...
Water vapor collects on the ground forming ice layers at night, high winds push the rocks across very slowly. Or at least thats what someone said the last time this hit the front page. - vervalsing, on 01/16/2008, -0/+3Nope for some reason there's not a lot of soft soil or mud in Death Valley. I can't for the life of me imagine why...
- sdellboy, on 01/16/2008, -0/+2I for one welcome our Huge Moving Death Valley Rock overlords....
- travbrack, on 01/16/2008, -0/+2[Citation Needed]
- rgaino, on 01/16/2008, -2/+4Why did the rock cross the road?
- mohrt, on 01/16/2008, -0/+2No longer a mystery. Water covers the mud, freezes at night, wind moves the ice (and rock) around on the mud.
- jmpeagle, on 01/16/2008, -3/+5so that's how the great pyramids were built....they built themselves
- URnotheonly1, on 01/16/2008, -2/+4They make great pets! You guys want to buy some?
- 7fields, on 01/16/2008, -0/+2National Geographic magazine just recently had an article about Death Valley and the Racetrack.
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/2007-11/deat ... - mccartyba, on 01/16/2008, -0/+2Not reading the article, but I've read about this back in 2nd grade... Its supposed to be moved by the ice that forms under it during the freakishly cold desert nights.
- cl2yp71c, on 01/16/2008, -0/+2I want to see an aerial photo.
The aliens must've got tired of the corn. - Scheissen, on 01/16/2008, -0/+2old
- apextek, on 01/16/2008, -0/+1cool but this makes it to the front page of digg like every three months.
getting kinda old - inactive, on 01/17/2008, -0/+1They missed the millions of crop circles in the mud........
- cyrix, on 01/17/2008, -0/+1Oh wow, that was by far the best episode of Spongebob ever. KRUSTY CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYEAHHHHHHAAAAAAAABBBBBB PIZZA...
- PixelEater, on 01/16/2008, -0/+1What? I just lost the game.
- PixelEater, on 01/16/2008, -0/+1It's not Nascar without the rednecks...
- FaithclubDotNet, on 01/16/2008, -0/+1I saved your comment so I can post it again when moving rocks from Death Valley gets posted again.
- Woecip, on 01/16/2008, -0/+1If I hung out there all day Id try to get the hell out too...
- Merrick178, on 01/16/2008, -0/+1Armed with the knowledge that desert climates have just about the greatest diurnal temperature ranges on Earth... nope, still can't figure it out. *Bangs head into keyboard and drools*
- GreatSunJester, on 01/16/2008, -0/+1They have found the lost pet rock mating grounds --- last visited in the early 80s.
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