A.W.A.D. - Words to Describe Sculptures Formed By Nature

with Anu Garg
Last month, with my wife and daughter, I visited the famous sand dunes on the Oregon Coast, a few hours south of Seattle. The Oregon Coast on the Pacific Ocean has miles of pristine beaches, parts of which are dotted with sand dunes hundreds of feet high.

How are they formed? Over the years, boulders tumbling in the water turn into fine sand, and wind sculpts this sand into ever-changing dunes. Standing in that vast expanse of pure sand felt like being in a desert. Handling those grains of sand, I wondered if I were touching people who lived thousands of years ago.After rolling on a sand dune one brings home much sand, unintentionally. It's in the hair, ears, pockets, and elsewhere. And I brought something else -- today's word, which I discovered while learning about wind as a sculptor.

In this week's AWAD we'll see words to describe sculptures formed by nature.

yardang
PRONUNCIATION: (YAHR-dahng)
MEANING: noun: An elongated ridge formed by wind erosion, often resembling the keel of an upside down ship.

ETYMOLOGY: From Turkic yar (steep bank)

USAGE: "There are about 50 yardangs on Edwards [Air Force Base], with the largest about 15 feet high and 150 feet long. Base biologist Mark Hagan described them as looking like upside-down ship hulls."Jim Skeen; Unearthly Qualities Fossil Sand Dunes Provide Clues to Mars: Los Angeles Daily News; Dec 26, 2000

pingo
PRONUNCIATION: (PING-go)
MEANING: noun: A mound or hill of soil-covered ice in permafrost, pushed up by the pressure of water seeping in

ETYMOLOGY: From Inuit pinguq/pingu (small hill)

USAGE: "Out on the Arctic coastal plain below the northern foot of the Brooks, the land is dotted with pingoes a foot or two tall." Craig Medred; River Dance on the Hulahula; Anchorage Daily News (Alaska); Jul 31, 2005.

scree
PRONUNCIATION: (skree)
MEANING: noun: Rock debris at the base or the side of a mountain

ETYMOLOGY: From Old Norse skritha (landslide)

USAGE: "The trail is well-defined, although there were a few spots where we had to scrabble up rocks and slide down scree."Charlie Anderson; New Zealand's A Knock-out; Calgary Herald (Canada); Jun 6, 2009.

inselberg
PRONUNCIATION: (IN-suhl-burg, -zuhl-)
MEANING: noun: An isolated mountain or hill rising abruptly from its surrounding.In the US it's known as a monadnock. (Tr'Aislínge's note: there is a mountain in New Hampshire named Mount Monadnock. Pretty neat!)

ETYMOLOGY: From German Insel (island) + Berg (mountain), ultimately from the Indo-European root bhergh- (high) which is also the source of iceberg, belfry, borough, burg, burglar, bourgeois, fortify, and force.

USAGE: "Perhaps the most terrifying storm I have ever been through was on Malawi's Nyika Plateau, a huge inselberg that rises out of almost nowhere."Craig Dodds; Forecasts Say Batten Down the Hatches; Cape Times (Cape Town, South Africa); May 15, 2009.

karst
PRONUNCIATION: (karst)
MEANING: noun: An area of irregular limestone in which erosion has produced fissures, sinks, etc.

ETYMOLOGY: From German, after the Karst, a limestone plateau near Trieste, Slovenia

USAGE: "Traveling east into the wooded hills and finally to the elevated, rolling plain above the bluffs, the tour group enters the realm of karst, the ultimate geologic destination of this tour and primary scientific focus of the day's adventure."Joseph G. Maty; Magical Geological Tour is a Trip; St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri); May 12, 1997.

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