BETA
Chapter 1
The silent racers of Racetrack Playa
Chapter 2
Decades of wild guesses
Chapter 3
The great 2014 breakthrough
Chapter 4
The science of ice sails
YOUR GOAL
Master of The sailing stones of Death Valley
Ch 1 · The silent racers of Racetrack Playa
artiteacher Racetrack Playa Sailing Stones
Just a whisper of wind on a thin sheet of ice, and the heavy stones start to slide!
artiteacher The tracks left by the stones can stretch for hundreds of meters, showing straight lines, sharp turns, and parallel paths.
artiteacher The sailing stones are mostly dolomite and syenite rocks that break off from nearby cliffs and weigh up to 320 kilograms.
Fun Fact
Playa flat surface: Racetrack Playa is so incredibly flat that its northern end is only about 4 centimeters higher than its southern end.
Glossary
playa (noun)
A flat-bottomed desert basin that temporarily fills with water before evaporating to leave a dry mud crust. In 2014, scientists discovered that thin, wind-driven ice sheets push the heavy rocks across this dry lakebed.
A flat-bottomed desert basin that temporarily fills with water before evaporating to leave a dry mud crust. In 2014, scientists discovered that thin, wind-driven ice sheets push the heavy rocks across this dry lakebed.
Quiz
What is the name of the flat, dry lakebed where the sailing stones leave their tracks?
Quiz
In what year did prospector Joseph Crook first document the tracks of the sailing stones?
Quiz
What material makes up the dry, cracked surface of Death Valley's Racetrack Playa?
Quiz
What type of heavy rock makes up the majority of the sailing stones in Death Valley?
Quiz
What is highly unusual about the tracks left by multiple different sailing stones?