Driftwood
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2008-07-16T08:10:18Z
Arpingstone
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[[Image:Driftwood NZ.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Mass of driftwood near Poirua, [[New Zealand]]]]
[[Image:Haliaeetus leucocephalus 33495.JPG|thumb|250px|right|Driftwood provides a perch for a [[Bald Eagle]] on [[Fir Island (Washington)]]]]
[[Image:Equus_eden.jpg|thumb|Driftwood sculpture of a horse at the [[Eden Project]]]]
'''Driftwood''' is [[wood]] that has been washed onto a shore or beach of a sea or river by the action of winds, tides, waves or man.
In some [[waterfront]] areas, driftwood is a major nuisance. However, the driftwood provides shelter and food for birds, fish and other aquatic species as it floats in the ocean. [[Gribble]]s, [[shipworm]]s and [[bacterium|bacteria]] decompose the wood and gradually turn it into nutrients that are reintroduced to the [[food web]]. Sometimes, the partially decomposed wood washes ashore, where it also shelters birds, plants, and other species. Driftwood can become the foundation for [[sand dunes]].
Driftwood can be formed from:
*a [[tree]] or tree branch washed into the [[ocean]] (or another large body of water), usually because of strong winds, as in a storm, or due to [[flood]]ing.
*buildings and their contents washed into the sea by [[flood]]s, storms and [[tsunami]]s.
*wooden objects discarded into the water from shore.
*remains of wrecked wooden ships and boats.
*jettisoned [[dunnage]] or lost [[cargo]].
==In history==
According to [[Norse mythology]], the first humans, [[Ask and Embla]], were formed out of two pieces of driftwood, an [[ash (tree)|ash]] and an [[elm]], by the god [[Odin]] and his brothers, [[Ve]] and [[Vili]].
Driftwood carried by [[Arctic]] rivers was the main, or sometimes only, source of wood for some [[Inuit]] and other Arctic populations living north of the [[tree line]] until they came into regular contact with [[Europe]]an traders. Wood that is burned today in these regions mainly consists of the remains of condemned wooded structures. Driftwood is still used as kindling by some.
The "[[Old Man of the Lake]]" in [[Crater Lake]], [[Oregon]] is a full-size tree that has been bobbing vertically in the lake for more than a century.<ref> Salinas, J., "The Old Man of the Lake," ''Nature Notes from Crater Lake National Park'', Vol. XXVII (1996).[http://www.nps.gov/archive/crla/notes/vol27e.htm]</ref> Due to the cold water of the lake, the tree has been well preserved.
Driftwood can be usd as part of decorative [[furniture]] or other [[art]] forms, and is a popular element in the scenery of fish tanks.
==Driftwood sculpture==
Sculpture made of driftwood has been constructed on beaches or [[mudflat]]s.
*At [[Kullaberg]], [[Sweden]], Lars Vilke created [[Ladonia (micronation)|Nimis]] a driftwood artwork in the year 1980. This sculpture and two others led to the declaration of [[Ladonia (micronation)|Ladonia]] as an independent nation.
*Sculptures were created on the [[Emeryville, California]] mudflat and marsh area of [[San Francisco Bay]] in the late 1960s.
*A driftwood sculpture was constructed in the [http://www.patrimoine.ville-arles.fr/arles/ville.cfm?action=edifice&id=61 Chapelle St Anne] d' [http://www.ville-arles.fr Arles] (France) by the visitors to the exhibition "Marcher dans le pas des glaneurs" organized by "A Flots perdus" (Arlésiens artists), in March 2008.
== Gallery ==
<gallery>
Image:driftwood.in.bath.england.arp.jpg|A [[weir]] of the [[River Avon, Bristol|River Avon]], [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], [[England]]
Image:Driftwood.JPG|Overlooking the [[Strait of Juan de Fuca]]
Image:Driftwood_Expanse,_Northern_Washington_Coast.png|Northern coast of [[Washington]].
Image:Sculptureafp.jpg|Collective Sculpture Exposition "A Flots perdus" March 2008 (Arles) (France)
Image:JaneFrankMixedMedia63.jpg|Driftwood in a work of art: Untitled [[1963]] [[mixed media]] work on canvas by [[Jane Frank]]
</gallery>
{{Commons}}
==References==
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[[Category:Wood]]
[[Category:Waste]]
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[[fr:Bois flotté]]
[[is:Rekaviður]]
[[ja:流木]]
[[simple:Driftwood]]
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