Bean Hollow Tafoni #4: Photograph by Will Tenney

Bean Hollow Tafoni #2

At Bean Hollow State Beach a few miles south of San Francisco, along the San Mateo County coast, a very peculiar sandstone rock formation has developed. Called “tafoni” by geologists, the word may come from taphos, an ancient Greek word for tomb, or it may come from taffoni, a Corsican word meaning windows. Regardless of the derivation, these odd holes and ridges in the sandstone are the result of uneven weathering by salt spray, wind, and sun.

More images in this series will eventually be found in the Suites section of this web site.