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__NOTOC__ Driftwood is
wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin ...
that has been washed onto a shore or beach of a sea, lake, or river by the action of winds, tides or waves. 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 A gribble /ˈgɹɪbəl/ (or gribble worm) is any of about 56 species of marine isopod from the family Limnoriidae. They are mostly pale white and small ( long) crustaceans, although '' Limnoria stephenseni'' from subantarctic waters can reach . ...
s,
shipworm The shipworms are marine bivalve molluscs in the family Teredinidae: a group of saltwater clams with long, soft, naked bodies. They are notorious for boring into (and commonly eventually destroying) wood that is immersed in sea water, including ...
s and
bacteria Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were am ...
decompose the wood and gradually turn it into nutrients that are reintroduced to the
food web A food web is the natural interconnection of food chains and a graphical representation of what-eats-what in an ecological community. Another name for food web is consumer-resource system. Ecologists can broadly lump all life forms into one o ...
. Sometimes, the partially decomposed wood washes ashore, where it also shelters birds, plants, and other species. Driftwood can become the foundation for sand dunes. Most driftwood is the remains of
tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...
s, in whole or part, that have been washed into the
ocean The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the wo ...
, due to
flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...
ing, high winds, or other natural occurrences, or as the result of logging. There is also a subset of driftwood known as drift lumber. Drift lumber includes the remains of man-made wooden objects, such as buildings and their contents washed into the sea during storms, wooden objects discarded into the water from shore, dropped
dunnage Dunnage is inexpensive or waste material used to load and secure cargo during transportation; more loosely, it refers to miscellaneous baggage, brought along during travel. The term can also refer to low-priority cargo used to fill out transport ca ...
or lost
cargo Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including trans ...
from ships ( jetsam), and the remains of shipwrecked wooden ships and boats (
flotsam In maritime law, flotsam'','' jetsam'','' lagan'','' and derelict are specific kinds of shipwreck. The words have specific nautical meanings, with legal consequences in the law of admiralty and marine salvage. A shipwreck is defined as the rema ...
). Erosion and wave action may make it difficult or impossible to determine the origin of a particular piece of driftwood. Driftwood can be used as part of decorative furniture or other
art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...
forms, and is a popular element in the scenery of fish tanks.


Use as firewood

The EPA includes driftwood in its list of "Items You Should Never Burn in Your ood-BurningAppliance," because it will "release toxic chemicals when burned".


History

According to Norse mythology, the first humans,
Ask and Embla In Norse mythology, Ask and Embla ( non, Askr ok Embla )—male and female respectively—were the first two humans, created by the gods. The pair are attested in both the '' Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional ...
, were formed out of two pieces of driftwood, an ash and an
elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of North ...
, by the god Odin and his brothers,
Vili and Vé In Norse mythology, Vili ( ; Old Norse: ) and Vé ( ; O.N.: ) are the brothers of the god Odin (from Old Norse ''Óðinn''), sons of Bestla, daughter of Bölþorn; and Borr, son of Búri Name The Old Norse theonym ''Vé'' (or ''Véi'') is cogn ...
. The Vikings would cast wood into the sea before making landfall. The location of the wood would be an indication as to where to build their
mead hall Among the early Germanic peoples, a mead hall or feasting hall was a large building with a single room intended to receive guests and serve as a center of community social life. From the fifth century to the Early Middle Ages such a building was t ...
s. The wood used would found the high-seat pillars of the new hall. Driftwood carried by
Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenland), Finland, Iceland, N ...
rivers was the main, or sometimes only, source of wood for some
Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...
and other Arctic populations living north of the
tree line The tree line is the edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually cold temperatures, extreme snow ...
until they came into regular contact with
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
an traders. Traditional Inuit boats such as the kayak were fashioned from driftwood frames covered in skins. The Inuit classified driftwood into seven different types, each possessing its own unique material and visual properties. Driftwood could be used to make bows if it was straight grained and in reasonably good condition; these were reinforced with sinew cables. The Inuit even made arrows from driftwood; these were often short and fitted with bone or antler foreshafts. Dry scrapings produced by working this material were collected, stored and used for the starting of fires year-round by Inuit. Wood that is burned today in these regions mainly consists of the remains of condemned wooden structures. Driftwood is still used as kindling by some. Woods with resinous qualities, such as cedar, are preferred for their lengthier burning times. The " Old Man of the Lake" in
Crater Lake Crater Lake ( Klamath: ''Giiwas'') is a volcanic crater lake in south-central Oregon in the western United States. It is the main feature of Crater Lake National Park and is famous for its deep blue color and water clarity. The lake partly fill ...
,
Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...
is a full-size tree that has been bobbing vertically in the lake for more than a century. Due to the cold water of the lake, the tree has been well preserved. Alice Gray, the legendary "
Diana of the Dunes Diana of the Dunes was the nickname given to Alice Mabel Gray (1881–1925), an American intellectual and counterculture figure, whose life inspired a local legend in Chesterton, Indiana. Gray lived in primitive conditions among the sand dunes of no ...
", who fought to preserve the Indiana Dunes which contain quantities of driftwood named her college "Driftwood", and made all her furniture from driftwood.


Sculptures

Driftwood sculptures are sculptures that are made of driftwood found on beaches or along riverbanks. *At
Kullaberg Kullaberg () is a peninsula and nature reserve of land protruding into the Kattegat in Höganäs Municipality near the town of Mölle in southwest Sweden. The site in the province of Skåne is an area of considerable biodiversity supporting a num ...
, Sweden, Lars Vilks created
Nimis Nimis ( sl, Neme) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Udine, Friuli, north-eastern Italy, near the border with Slovenia. It is located at the foot of Mount Bernadia, home to a World War I Italian fort and a sweet white wine called Raman ...
a driftwood artwork in the year 1980. This sculpture and two others led to the declaration of Ladonia as an independent nation. * Sculptures were created on the
Emeryville, California Emeryville is a city located in northwest Alameda County, California, in the United States. It lies in a corridor between the cities of Berkeley and Oakland, with a border on the shore of San Francisco Bay. The resident population was 12,905 ...
mudflat and marsh area of San Francisco Bay in the late 1960s. *The Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy (sometimes called the "Green Oscars") are sculpted out of driftwood. *Artist
Deborah Butterfield Deborah Kay Butterfield (born May 7, 1949) is an American sculptor. Along with her artist-husband John Buck, she divides her time between a farm in Bozeman, Montana, and studio space in Hawaii. She is known for her sculptures of horses made f ...
is known for her sculptures of horses, initially rendered from driftwood before being cast in bronze. *In January the annual Driftwood and Sand festival is held in
Hokitika Hokitika is a town in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island, south of Greymouth, and close to the mouth of the Hokitika River. It is the seat and largest town in the Westland District. The town's estimated population is as of ...
, New Zealand.


Decline

With the advent of industrial logging practices, the global quantity of driftwood has declined. Early accounts indicate that driftwood was once more plentiful. Early photographs of the pacific coast reveal greater amounts of driftwood on the beaches than is present today. Likewise, when traveling in
Dixon Entrance The Dixon Entrance (french: Entrée Dixon) is a strait about long and wide in the Pacific Ocean at the Canada–United States border, between the U.S. state of Alaska and the province of British Columbia in Canada. The Dixon Entrance is part o ...
in the late 1800s, George A. Dorsey recorded that many beaches were "piled high with drift, often to a height of sixty feet or more." Melting polar ice may also contribute to the decline of Siberian driftwood in the Atlantic as the sea ice enabled driftwood to travel greater distances without becoming waterlogged.


See also

* Sea glass *
Large woody debris Large woody debris (LWD) are the logs, sticks, branches, and other wood that falls into streams and rivers. This debris can influence the flow and the shape of the stream channel. Large woody debris, grains, and the shape of the bed of the stream ...


References


External links

*{{Commons-inline Wood