COLLECTION OF THREE DREIKANTERS (WIND-FACETTED STONES) - Tunisia
« backDREIKANTERS (VENTIFACTS)
(WIND-FACETTED STONES)
Collection of three stones from Tunisia
A dreikanter is a stone that typically forms in desert environments due to the abrasive action of blowing sand. They exhibit a characteristic pyramidal shape with three wind-abraded facets.
The word dreikanter is German for ‘three-edged’ and so those stones with only one or two facets are technically not dreikanters but called ventifacts which means 'wind-made'.
Dreikanters have several facets because the erosion changes the stone’s mass distribution, causing it to turn another surface towards the wind. If this process continues undisturbed, the resulting rock will have three flattened and usually polished faces. The process can take thousands of years.
These examples come from an old teaching collection.
Click on a picture for a larger image
Size: 10 x 10 centimetres (size of card tray)
Weight: 400 grams (total weight)
|
-9621-p.jpg?v=C3A830DB-D7AB-48B9-9712-8C79557E339C)
-9621-p.jpg?v=2164B8A8-6D99-40DB-9443-2DB9642B6CD3)
-9621-p.jpg?v=01F65B69-74FF-4A15-8AB6-D7FFE1CFB6B9)
-9621-p.jpg?v=BBB00575-CCE7-4D13-96F4-0DB1C39E01F9)
