Racetrack Playa sliding rock, Death Valley, California
by Neale And Judith Clark
Title
Racetrack Playa sliding rock, Death Valley, California
Artist
Neale And Judith Clark
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
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 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 C0YET0
Uploaded
December 11th, 2019
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