The mystery of the `` wandering rock '' phenomenon that moves unintelligibly in the `` death valley '' is finally solved


By

Trey Ratcliff

In the Death Valley National Park , California, USA, a strange phenomenon has occurred where a huge rock weighing more than 100 kg moves when it is unknown . Until now, no one has witnessed the moment of rock movement, but the team that researched this “Wandering Rock” over two years has elucidated the mechanism of rock movement.

PLOS ONE: Sliding Rocks on Racetrack Playa, Death Valley National Park: First Observation of Rocks in Motion
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0105948

You can see the video that captures the moment when the rock moves with the camera and the movie that explains why the rock moves.

How Rocks Move-YouTube


Death Valley National Park, the largest national park in the United States. According to Wikipedia, the total area is 13,158 square kilometers, about the same size as Nagano Prefecture.



Depending on the season, the mountains are covered with white snow.



In such a dead lake in Death Valley, there is a phenomenon where rocks start to move by themselves. It was a mystery about how the rocks moved slackly, but ...



The research team of Dwight Carey of

Environmental Management Associates (EMA) has clarified the mechanism.



For verification purposes, a weather station was first established where wandering rocks were confirmed.



Next, the GPS unit is embedded in 15 rocks of various sizes.



The rock in which the unit is embedded will be returned to the original withered lake and you will be able to track how the rock moves.



Jim Norris of

Interwoof , one of the research teams, was in charge of observing the installed rocks for two years.



One morning in December 2013, rainwater collected on a dead lake. According to observation data from the weather station, the area was found to have 1.5 inches (3.81 cm) of rainfall and 7 inches (about 17 cm) of snowfall in late November.



The accumulated water layer became a thin layer of ice covering the entire lake.



When the sun gets stronger, the ice that covers the entire sheet melts and begins to crack.



Then, drift ice is generated in the whole lake by the wind. The ice under the rock played a role like a 'sail', and the rock moved on the water and wind.



Succeeded in shooting the moment when a rock that had never been witnessed moves. I didn't know the speed of movement, but the speed at which the rocks moved was very slow, 15 feet per minute (about 274m / h).




The mysterious orbit where the rock changed direction at a steep angle seems to be due to changes in the water flow.



A lot of water turns into ice every year at this time ...



When the lake withered, the water and ice evaporated, leaving only the rock trails, so it seemed as if the rocks moved by themselves. Because there were multiple conditions such as rain, freezing, wind, and sun, there were no people who actually saw the movement, but thanks to the GPS unit, I was able to notice the rock moving quickly about.



The

LA Times uses the scientifically proven phenomenon of “Wandering Rock” to make it easier to understand.



in Note,   Science, Posted by darkhorse_log