Batu berjalan

Batu berjalan di Racetrack Playa

Batu berjalan (juga disebut batu geser, batu berlayar, batu bergulir, dan batu bergerak) adalah bagian dari fenomena geologi di mana batu bergerak secara alami dan menorehkan jejak panjang di sepanjang dasar lembah yang mulus tanpa campur tangan hewan atau makhluk hidup apa pun. Pergerakan bebatuan terjadi ketika lapisan es besar setebal beberapa milimeter pecah pada hari-hari cerah. Lapisan es ini terbentuk dari kolam yang digenangi air selama musim dingin. Lapisan es tipis yang tadinya membeku selama musim dingin ini kemudian bergerak terdorong oleh angin, menggeser batu di atasnya dengan kecepatan hingga 5 meter per menit.

Jejak batu geser telah diamati dan dipelajari di berbagai lokasi, termasuk Playa Little Bonnie Claire, di Nevada. Batu berjalan yang paling populer berada di Playa Racetrack, Taman Nasional Death Valley, California, yang dikenal dengan banyaknya jejak batu yang membentuk lintasan panjang.

Bacaan lanjutan

• Messina, P., 1998, The Sliding Rocks of Racetrack Playa, Death Valley National Park, California: Physical and Spatial Influences on Surface Processes. Published doctoral dissertation, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, City University of New York, New York. University Microfilms, Incorporated, 1998.
• Messina, P., Stoffer, P., and Clarke, K. C. Mapping Death Valley's Wandering Rocks. GPS World April, 1997: pp. 34–44
• Sharp, R.P., and A.F. Glazier, 1997, Geology Underfoot in Death Valley and Owens Valley. Mountain Press Publishing Company, Missoula. ISBN 0-87842-362-1
• Stanley, G. M. (1955). "Origin of playa stone tracks, Racetrack Playa, Inyo County, California". Geological Society of America Bulletin. 66 (11): 1329–1350. Bibcode:1955GSAB...66.1329S. doi:10.1130/0016-7606(1955)66[1329:oopstr]2.0.co;2. 
• Reid, J.B. Jr.; Bucklin, E.P.; Copenagle, L.; Kidder, J.; Pack, S. M.; Polissar, P. J.; Williams, M. L. (1995). "Sliding rocks at the Racetrack, Death Valley: What makes them move?". Geology. 23 (9): 819–822. Bibcode:1995Geo....23..819R. doi:10.1130/0091-7613(1995)023<0819:sratrd>2.3.co;2. 
• Sharp, R.P.; Carey, D. L.; Reid, J.B. Jr.; Polissar, P. J.; Williams (1996). "Sliding rocks at the Racetrack, Death Valley: What makes them move?; Discussion and Reply". Geology. 25 (8): 766–767. doi:10.1130/0091-7613(1996)024<0766:sratrd>2.3.co;2. 

Pranala luar

• How Do Death Valley's "Sailing Stones" Move Themselves Across the Desert?" Diarsipkan 2013-06-13 di Wayback Machine., Smithsonian Magazine, June 2013.
• National Geographic: "What Drives Death Valley's Roving Rocks?"
• Racetrackplaya.org: The Racetrack Playa Blog – homepage
• SJSU.edu: "The Sliding Rocks of Racetrack Playa" – by Paula Messina.
• Smith.edu: "The Mystery of the Rocks on the Racetrack at Death Valley" – by Lena Fletcher and Anne Nester.
• Physics Forums.com: "The Sliding Rock Phenomenon" – online discussion.
• Earth Surface Dynamics Discussions: "Trail formation by ice-shoved 'sailing stones' observed at Racetrack Playa, Death Valley National Park"
• YouTube: Moving Rocks of Death Valley's Racetrack Playa – video by Brian Dunning.
• Fox News.com: Why Are Death Valley's Rocks Moving Themselves? – by Philip Schewe.
• Plosone.org: "Sliding Rocks on Racetrack Playa, Death Valley National Park: First Observation of Rocks in Motion"