The silent racers of Racetrack Playa
Decades of wild guesses
The great 2014 breakthrough
The science of ice sails
Why does Racetrack Playa experience freezing winter nights despite being in Death Valley?
artiteacher Time the wind gusts to discover how ice sails push Death Valley's heavy stones.
artiteacher Temperatures must drop below freezing at night to create the thin sheets of ice.
What is the minimum wind speed required to move the ice sheets and sailing stones?
artiteacher Sailing Stones of Death Valley
The morning sun fractures the frozen windowpane, And ice sails slide the heavy rocks across the plain.
artiteacher Gentle morning sunlight melts the ice sheets into floating panels that move with the breeze.
What happens to the playa mud when it is covered in water, aiding the sailing stones?
Ice sails: A single floating sheet of ice can be hundreds of meters wide, catching even the gentlest breeze to push a heavy rock.
Why must the ice sheets remain thin rather than freezing solid around the sailing stones?
A flat, dried-up lakebed in a desert basin that temporarily fills with water. In December 2013, scientists first witnessed ice sheets pushing rocks across California's Racetrack Playa.