Ice rafts not sails: Floating the rocks at Racetrack Playa, Paper by Ralph Lorenz et. al. |
Ice rafts not sails: Floating the rocks at Racetrack Playa, Paper by Ralph Lorenz et. al. |
Dec 29 2010, 06:04 PM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3516 Joined: 4-November 05 From: North Wales Member No.: 542 |
Thanks once again to Jason B for making this intriguing paper accessible to all: http://barnesos.net/publications/papers/20...track.Rafts.pdf
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Dec 29 2010, 07:14 PM
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Senior Member Group: Admin Posts: 4763 Joined: 15-March 05 From: Glendale, AZ Member No.: 197 |
I suppose others have already thought of solar powered web cams and things like that. Though it seems that we are looking at movement during periods of partial immersion where the rocks may be barely visible from above.
-------------------- If Occam had heard my theory, things would be very different now.
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Dec 29 2010, 10:44 PM
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#3
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Member Group: Members Posts: 613 Joined: 23-February 07 From: Occasionally in Columbia, MD Member No.: 1764 |
I suppose others have already thought of solar powered web cams and things like that. yes. Took a long time to get a permit but it can be done subject to certain Parks Service limitations. Since winter is the time of interest, and cameras cannot be left on the nice flat playa itself, solar power is less effective than it might be, but digital timelapse cameras can run on alkaline Ds for months. http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~rlorenz/timelapse.pdf One would have to be very lucky to see the rocks move, but timelapse has been proving useful to understand the conditions on the playa (how often flooded, how often frozen etc.) That work is being written up right now. btw, I believe someone has been doing Gigapan surveys of the playa for a year or so. I tried a Gigapan myself but it drained the batteries in minutes and was overall rather frustrating. Having been going to the playa a couple of times a year since 2006, I've found walking around and doing manual pans from GPS-fixed locations to be a very time-efficient means of survey. Just wish the bastard rocks would actually move. |
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Dec 30 2010, 12:21 AM
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Senior Member Group: Admin Posts: 4763 Joined: 15-March 05 From: Glendale, AZ Member No.: 197 |
Reading your paper Ralph it looks like the occurrence and duration of ice is still being debated. Have you though of getting permission to bury a couple of temperature sensors just below and/or at the surface of the soil to record long term temperature profiles? Also, have you tested the water seasonally for saline content?
-------------------- If Occam had heard my theory, things would be very different now.
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Dec 30 2010, 01:22 PM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 613 Joined: 23-February 07 From: Occasionally in Columbia, MD Member No.: 1764 |
Reading your paper Ralph it looks like the occurrence and duration of ice is still being debated. Have you though of getting permission to bury a couple of temperature sensors just below and/or at the surface of the soil to record long term temperature profiles? Also, have you tested the water seasonally for saline content? The subsurface temperatures are not of particular interest. We do have measures of air and surface temperatures nearby, though. 360 days of the year, there is no water. I imagine it would basically be fresh, as it runs off the hills. You don't see much, if any, salt encrustation (unlike at Badwater or Devils Golfcourse) - it's all clay. |
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