Mystery solved: How those “sailing stones” of Death Valley move

Scripps Oceanography paleooceanographer Richard Norris describes the phenomenon of sliding rocks in Death Valley. For years, scientists have been puzzled by the mysterious "sailing stones" of Death Valley. Located in a remote area of California's Death Valley National Park, the heavy stones appear to move across the dried lake bed known as Racetrack Playa, leaving a trail behind them in the cracked mud. According to Norris's team, under certain winter conditions in Death Valley, enough water and ice could form to float the rocks across the muddy bottom of Racetrack Playa in a light breeze, leaving a trail in the mud as the rocks moved.