And you thought Crop Circles were creepy.

Rockdoc, ever hear of this?



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2006_ ... ETRACK.jpg

Sailing stones, sliding rocks, and moving rocks all refer to a geological phenomenon where rocks move in long tracks along a smooth valley floor without human or animal intervention. They have been recorded and studied in a number of places around Racetrack Playa, Death Valley, where the number and length of travel grooves are notable. The force behind their movement is not confirmed and is the subject of research.

Mystery solved.

[youtube:651igwq9][/youtube:651igwq9]

This is something not new at all. We learned that in geology 101 back in the 1970's already. It just is new to the media.

THE ROCKS ARE ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! RUN FOR THE HILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wait, there's rocks in the hills too.

Dang.

Rockdoc Franz wrote: This is something not new at all. We learned that in geology 101 back in the 1970's already. It just is new to the media.

Rockdoc, you would know this stuff. LOL

Nobody that matters wrote: THE ROCKS ARE ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! RUN FOR THE HILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wait, there's rocks in the hills too.

Dang.

What I learned is that the sailing rocks are pet rocks. No pet rocks to worry about in the hills You should see these rocks in action. They have a hard time rigging the sails while the lines are frozen.

Rockdoc Franz wrote:
What I learned is that the sailing rocks are pet rocks. No pet rocks to worry about in the hills You should see these rocks in action. They have a hard time rigging the sails while the lines are frozen.

So it's like the pet alligators in the sewers of New York... these are the pet rocks that some kid skipped across a shallow lake, all growed up and looking for revenge, right?

Nobody that matters wrote:

Rockdoc Franz wrote:
What I learned is that the sailing rocks are pet rocks. No pet rocks to worry about in the hills You should see these rocks in action. They have a hard time rigging the sails while the lines are frozen.

So it's like the pet alligators in the sewers of New York... these are the pet rocks that some kid skipped across a shallow lake, all growed up and looking for revenge, right?

By George, I think you've got it.

CinnamonGirl wrote:

Rockdoc Franz wrote: This is something not new at all. We learned that in geology 101 back in the 1970's already. It just is new to the media.

Rockdoc, you would know this stuff. LOL

I feel it necessary to add this point of clarification and humility. Regardless of whether I knew about it or not, an understanding of the process that created those stone trails was no trivial challenge. Once someone witnessed the process in action it was, of course, we should have realized this right away. When something is unknown little confidence exists in interpretations. Later, it is easy to say, oh yes, it’s really simple.

Personal case in point. I’m reminded of a time on a field trip to Idaho and Wyoming. Right near the boarder we stopped at a place where isolated rounded cobble stones, clearly from a river were suspended in the middle of a volcanic deposit. The professor challenged us graduate teaching assistants to explain this to the class of undergraduates. We all failed miserably. Bruce, the professor then explained it was the result of a volcanic eruption that came up through a riverbed. Of course; it was a simple interpretation that made total sense. Later he confided that it took him and his colleague three years to come up with this scenario.

Do you think this holds true for Stonehenge?