ICE AND SNOW IN THE DUNES 97 



is kept moist and so compacted that in sinking to 

 take the place of the snow, the layer of sand 

 cracks. In walking over the dunes in cold 

 weather one may be startled by suddenly sinking 

 through an inch or two of sand up to one's waist 

 in clear snow. 



The wind plays strange pranks with the sand 

 in winter. One formation, not uncommon, is 

 that of an icy slab supported on numerous short 

 columns of sand a few inches to a foot or more 

 high. These structures look at times like minia- 

 ture Grecian temples. Again there are columns 

 devoid of a roof and toadstool-like structures. ^ 

 The explanation of their formation is probably 

 as follows : snow in melting has frozen into a sur- 

 face coating of ice and has also percolated into 

 the sand in spots and frozen there. The cutting 

 wind has blown away the loose sand not cemented 

 by the ice and has rounded oif into small pillars 

 the harder combination of ice and sand. Oc- 

 casionally one will find a large mushroom-like 



1 The similarity in formation of these miniature wind-carved 

 columns and those made by the sea waves in horizontal strata 

 of limestone is striking. Compare this illustration with the 

 one on page 60 of "A Labrador Spring." 



