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Now that's why they call it the racetrack

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Henk Auwema

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Now that's why they call it the racetrack

And the winner is Carmen, the one on the left. :-)

The racetrack playa in a remote part of Death Valley is famous for it's sliding rocks. No one ever witnessed a rock move. Well here you can:
http://geosun.sjsu.edu/paula/rtp/index.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1hoiHvOeGc

So far science didn't offer an explanation for the phenomenon.
There are rumours about subterranean magnetism, wind, black ice in winter. And of course there was a theory about aliens, especially in the sixties and seventies: According to that theory, the traces in the loam were symbols created by aliens, which wanted to send us a message.

Some of these rock weigh about 300 kilos and have slided for as much as over 3 km. A number of them were monitored and given female names.
Probably because they move so gracefully. Well my that's my conclusion.

The southern part of the playa is about 5 cm lower then the northern part and it's here where most of the sliding rocks can be found.

Comentarios 16

Wolfgang Schadow 24/10/2007 0:54
Well done.

Regards,
Wolfgang
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gerla 13/07/2007 21:01
Great! Die Bildaufteilung ist klasse. Die beiden wandernden Steine kommen prima rüber

LG Gerla
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Kerstin Rösler 29/06/2007 21:25
very intersting story, henk.....wonderful wide in your pic....great
lg kerst
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Brigitte Lucke 29/06/2007 18:26
Great. I'm sure you had a lot of fun.
Gruss Brigitte
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strubbel-annie 29/06/2007 17:50
Titel und Bild ergänzen sich wunderbar - was für eine außergewöhnliche Szenerie!
LG,
Anja
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Kimi R. 29/06/2007 9:40
Hi!
Nice picture! I like the view and the mountains look great!
nice greetings Kimi
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Tom McAlexander 28/06/2007 22:55
Beautiful image.
Aloha
Tom
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Reinhard... 28/06/2007 18:55
Have to look twice, unbeliveable!

Cheers
Reinhard
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Ruedi Stähli 28/06/2007 14:23
Nice!
I didn't know about these rocks and the explanation given in the video seems credible.
I like the picture with the converging tracks. Maybe you could have gone a bit closer to one of the rocks to get a more spectacular perspective, but maybe this would have killed the perspective.
Best regards from Bern
Ruedi
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I..K. 28/06/2007 12:48
Beautiful picture, wonderful view.
Compliments for the title.
Ingrid
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Dirk Hondelmann 28/06/2007 12:24
Nice title ;-).
For me this a magic place. I could have stayed there for hours, just trying to figure out, what moved this stones. Especially since they are moving in different directions. One of the highlights of Death Valley and a pretty good picture too.
Dirk
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Claude Coeudevez 28/06/2007 11:49
thanks for a doc. ! great place and capture
cheers
claude
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regineheuser 28/06/2007 11:34
Fair and beautiful and the header is absolute
creative ;o))))))) Perfect shot

LG
Regi
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Uwe Skotschier 28/06/2007 11:22
Fantastic, the pic, the title and the statement, Henk!!!
br Uwe
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Gunda Çilingir 28/06/2007 11:02
very very nice.... lg Gundi
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