Last light on the Grandstand, Racetrack Playa, Death Valley, California

by Neale And Judith Clark

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Last light on the Grandstand, Racetrack Playa, Death Valley, California

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Neale And Judith Clark

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Photograph - Photography

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Last light on the Grandstand in Death Valley known for it's eerie rock tracks on the dried lake bed called the Racetrack Playa, Death Valley National Park, California, USA. The rocks are pushed by storms in the winter when the lake bed is frozen, creating the tracks. The stormy sky was indicative of the week we spent in Death Valley with lightning storms every night but no rain!

The Racetrack Playa, or The Racetrack, is a scenic dry lake feature with "sailing stones" that inscribe linear "racetrack" imprints. It is located above the northwestern side of Death Valley, in Death Valley National Park, Inyo County, California, U.S.A.
The Racetrack Playa is 3,714 feet (1,132 m) above sea level, and 2.8 mi (4.5 km) long (north-south) by 1.3 mi (2.1 km) wide (east-west). The playa is exceptionally flat and level with the northern end being only 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) higher than the southern. This occurrence is due to major influx of fine-grained sediment that accumulates at the north end. The highest point surrounding the Racetrack is the 5,678-foot (1,731 m) high Ubehebe Peak, rising 1,964 feet (599 m) above the lakebed 0.85 miles (1.37 km) to the west.

The playa is in the small Racetrack Valley endorheic basin between the Cottonwood Mountains on the east and Nelson Range to the west. During periods of heavy rain, water washes down from the Racetrack mountain area draining into the playa, forming a shallow, short-lived endorheic lake. Under the hot desert sun, the thin veneer of water quickly evaporates leaving behind a surface layer of soft slick mud. As the mud dries, it shrinks and cracks into a mosaic pattern of interlocking polygons.
The sailing stones are a geological phenomenon found in the Racetrack. Slabs of dolomite and syenite ranging from a few hundred grams to hundreds of kilograms inscribe visible tracks as they slide across the playa surface, without human or animal intervention. Instead, rocks move when ice sheets just a few millimeters thick start to melt during periods of light wind. These thin floating ice panels create an ice shove that moves the rocks at up to five meters per minute

Alamy reference 2BKR3G1

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April 29th, 2020

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