Desert Wanderers (ATOS 9.8)

Desert Wanderers

Wandering rocks, or sailing stones, are a bizarre geological phenomenon. These wandering rocks independently move very slowly across a playa, leaving a track, or trail, on the ground of where they have been. While they occur in playas (dried out lake beds, now desert valley floors) in a few locations, but the most famous is Racetrack Playa in Death Valley, Nevada. Decades after their discovery, scientists continue to hypothesize the cause of the phenomenon. A few have proposed that ice forms on the bottom of the rock and this ice helps to propel the rock forward, but no definitive conclusion has been drawn.