Death Valley Sailing Stones Move With Thin Ice and Light Winds, Scientists Explain
Scientists have solved the mystery of Racetrack Playa’s sailing stones: when the playa floods, shallow water freezes into thin ice sheets (3–5 mm thick). Light winds (3–5 m/s) push these ice panels, which transfer force to rocks over the soft mud, causing them to slide and leave parallel trails. Over about 2.5 months, researchers recorded five movement events—some involving hundreds of stones and distances up to 60+ meters—demonstrating that the rocks move slowly and are driven by rare, gentle wind-ice conditions rather than being lifted by the ice.
