Sastrugi dunes, and the resulting drifting snow shapes are also popularly referred to as "barchans". Inuit of Canada call them "kalutoqaniq". When winds slacken, the drifted formations consolidate via sublimation and recrystallization. Subsequent winds erode kalutoqaniq into the sculptured forms of sastrugi. Inuit call large sculpturings "kaioqlaq" and small ripples "tumarinyiq". Further erosion may turn "kaioqlaq" back into drifting "kalutoqaniq". An intermediate stage of erosion is "mapsuk", an overhanging shape. On the windward side of a ridge, the base erodes faster than the top, producing a shape like an anvil tip pointing upwind. Sastrugi are more likely to form on first-year
Surface wave inversion also the possibility for non-unique solutions to dispersion curves (several sets of parameters can yield the same dispersion curve). Surface wave inversion is becoming a valuable tool in evaluating the near subsurface. Surface waves found on seismograms can now be a useful by product of seismic exploration surveys instead of a waste product. Furthermore, it is more budget friendly because the use of an active energy source is not needed. Also, it is useful in detecting low velocity zones in the subsurface that are undetectable by refraction methods. It is most effective in estimating shear velocity, density, and thickness of