tafonin.
/taˈfəʊni/ Geology.
With plural agreement. Shallow rounded hollows in rock produced by weathering.
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the world > the earth > land > landscape > low land > hollow or depression > [noun] > other
slack?a1400
swamp1691
cauldrona1763
hog wallow1829
tomo1859
kettle1866
pocket1869
dolina1882
kettle hole1883
frost hollow1895
impact crater1895
uvala1902
frost pocket1907
sotch1910
pingo1938
lagg1939
tafoni1942
1942 C. A. Cotton Climatic Accidents Landscape-making i. 9 Rarely or never are positive signs of sand-blasting found in association with typical tafoni.
1968 R. W. Fairbridge Encycl. Geomorphol. 1103/1 Smaller rounded depressions may diversify the larger tafoni.
1970 R. J. Small Study of Landforms ix. 294 Cavity weathering, leading to the formation of rounded hollows (‘tafoni’) in granite, may also be due to chemical decay, since it occurs commonly in shaded areas where moisture is likely to linger.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online March 2019).
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n.1942