Someone at work was talking about ‘traveling rocks’ in the desert, which were described as large boulders that ‘appear to move of their own accord.’ From what I gather no one actually sees them move, but rather there are long trails visible in the sand from where the stone has supposedly moved. This fellow made it sound like it was common knowledge about this ‘mystery of nature’…anyone else out there heard of this? I saw a photograph of the ‘traveling rocks’, and there does appear to be a trail in the sand for some considerable distance behind the rock, but of course it could have been faked easily enough. Just wondering if anyone had heard of or knew anything about this.
I’m not sure of the thread title or the forum, but this has been discussed.
IIRC
There are areas where large rocks, some over 100 pounds, move quite a bit. The reason is simply that the composition of the rocks, soil, and silt combine to create an almost frictionless surface.
It’s not sand that the rocks are on, ot’s clay. Racetrack Playa in death valley is the most famous locale with moving rocks.
The most common explanation for the rock movements involves wind, and a clay surface made slick by water.
Here’s a map of many of the rock trails, with a short explanation. Here’s a much longer dissertation with many pictures, and the names of 162 moving rocks.
I think they were referring to Racetrack Playa
The USGS describes it and explains it for you right here:
This was addressed in Astronomy Picture of the Day in April. This is one web site that I try to hit every day.