Sastrugi Sastrugi Sastrugi, or zastrugi, are sharp irregular grooves or ridges formed on a snow surface by wind erosion, saltation of snow particles, and deposition, and found in polar and open sites such as frozen lakes in cold temperate regions. The ridges are usually perpendicular to the prevailing winds; they are steep on the windward side and sloping to the leeward side. Smaller irregularities of this type are known as ripples (small, ~10 mm high) or wind ridges. Larger features are especially troublesome to skiers and snowboarders. Traveling on the irregular surface of sastrugi can be very tiring, and can risk
Surface wave detection by animals in surface wave detection is not entirely clear; Xenopus with all of their lateral line organs destroyed are still able to respond to surface waves in an oriented fashion. Compared to animals with an intact system they respond somewhat less accurately to anterior stimuli and much less accurately to stimuli from behind. Areas of the Xenopus brain responding to surface waves have been identified. It has been speculated that both Xenopus and the European grassfrog use their seismic sensory capabilities to locate conspecifics in breeding ponds. Dolomedes spiders hunt by waiting at the edge of a pool or stream. They