Tuesday, March 27, 2012

APOD 3.6

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This fascinating image depicts the "Sailing Stones" in Death Valley, California. The texture of the ground is formed when mud experiences heavy flow, dries, and then cracks when subjected to heavy rain. The truly interesting portion of the image, however, is the "Sailing Stone", which seems to move completely free of external influences. As the description notes, though, this seemingly fantastic situation has a disappointingly mundane explanation; it is simply strong winds pushing the rocks along the lakebed after rains have made the mud slick.

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