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
Inertial wave Inertial wave Inertial waves, also known as inertial oscillations, are a type of mechanical wave possible in rotating fluids. Unlike surface gravity waves commonly seen at the beach or in the bathtub, inertial waves flow through the interior of the fluid, not at the surface. Like any other kind of wave, an inertial wave is caused by a restoring force and characterized by its wavelength and frequency. Because the restoring force for inertial waves is the Coriolis force, their wavelengths and frequencies are related in a peculiar way. Inertial waves are transverse. Most commonly they are observed in atmospheres, oceans,