English

Alternative forms

• sastruga

Noun

zastruga ‎(plural zastrugi)

1. Any of a series of long, wavelike ridges or grooves formed on a snow surface by the wind, especially in polar plains.
   • 2003, William C. Wonders, Canada's changing North, McGill-Queen's Press, ISBN 9780773526402, page 40:

     Later winds, if of sufficient force, will erode away the kalutoqaniq, producing sculptured forms which have great beauty but which are exceeding difficult to traverse. The sculpturings are widely known by the terms zastrugi (Russian) or skavler (Norwegian), but are more accurately known as kaioqlaq (Eskimo [Inuit]). Zastrugi or skavler refer to surface sculpturings in general. Kaioqlaq refers to large, hard sculpturings while the word tumarinyiq (Eskimo [Inuit]) refers to small zastrugi or "ripple marks."