Rocks sail across this lakebed on their own!

Racetrack Playa in Death Valley, California, is home to one of the natural world’s mysteries: rocks that sail across this lakebed, propelled by nothing that anyone can see. Stones of dolomite and syenite, ranging from a few hundred grams to hundreds of kilogrammes, create visible trails as they slide across the playa surface, without human or animal intervention. The trails show that these rocks have rolled and zig-zagged across the ground, sometimes for as long as 860 feet. The stones’ mysterious movement is probably caused by a combination of rain, wind, ice and sun all working together.

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