AEOLIAN PROCESSES AND

LANDFORMS

Md. Ilias Mahmud

 CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION
2. AEOLIAN PROCESSES
EROSION
TRANSPORTATION
DEPOSITION
3.AEOLIAN LANDFORMS
EROSIONAL LANDFORMS
DEPOSITIONAL LANDFORMS
 WIND

• Moving air mass is known as the WIND.

• Produces varieties of landforms by erosion and
deposition.
• It cannot develop any landscapes by itself -
requires some materials as tools(particles of sand,
silt etc.).
Work of wind
 The work of wind is expressed in different climatic
zones but is greatest in dry climatic zones.
The dry climatic zones are characterized by
1. Sharp diurnal temperature variations
2. Low precipitation(200-250mm per year)
3. Excess of evaporation over precipitation
(5 to15 times)

(…Contd)
 Work of wind

4. Sparse vegetation or complete lack of vegetation

5. Frequent winds of great force
6. Presence of unconsolidated, very loose, easily
erodible surface materials.
Such conditions are specific to deserts. The work of
wind is more in deserts and dry zones.
 
 Desert conditions in the globe

 The deserts and semi-deserts occupy about 20

percent of the surface of continents.

 Especially great areas are occupied by deserts in

Asia, Africa, and Australia, less in Europe, North and
South America.

(…Contd)
 Desert conditions in the globe
 The great “sand seas” that completely cover large
areas of North Africa’s Sahara Desert, Saudi Arabia,
and central Australia are the most spectacular
examples of wind activity on Earth.
 Wind as geological agent

• Wind has the ability to shape the surface of the

earth. Wind is one of the greatest agents of land
erosion and transportation.
• The action of wind is very significant in arid and
semi-arid regions. Due to profound wetness, wind
cannot act in humid regions.

(…Contd)
 Wind as geological agent

• Wind is capable of eroding, transporting and

depositing the surface materials, in drylands.
• The landforms created by wind action are called as
Aeolian landforms.
• The word “Aeolian” is derived from the Greek word
“Aeolus”, meaning, the god of the winds.
 Aspects of Study

• Aeolian landforms are features of the Earth's surface

produced by either the erosive or constructive action
of the wind.
• Winds are effective agents in regions with sparse
vegetation and a large supply of unconsolidated
sediments.

(…Contd)
 Wind & Its Characteristics
 Wind is a moving mass of air.
 Air, by nature, is a dynamic system. It moves due to
pressure differences.
 The basic driving force of air movement is this
difference between two regions. The air pressure is
described by several physical laws.
 The horizontal pressure difference provides the
horizontal force or pressure gradient.
(…Contd)
 Wind & Its Characteristics
 The greater the pressure gradient, the greater is
the force on the air, and the higher is the wind
speed.
 The Circulation of air over the earth’s surface
makes the wind to blow.
 This wind has a greater mechanical force to do
many things on the land surface.
 Wind and Arid regions
• Wind is common in arid desert regions. Air near the surface
is heated and it rises, cooler air comes in to replace the hot
rising air and this movement of air results in the generation
of winds.
• This wind has the ability to transport, erode, and deposit the
sediments.
• Arid regions have little or no soil moisture to hold such
sediments, rock and mineral fragments.
 
 Wind has the ability and force
 The work of wind comprises the processes of
deflation, corrosion or Abrasion, Saltation and
accumulation or deposition.
 In nature, all these effects are closely inter-related
and essentially constitute a single complex process.
 Some actions are predominant in certain specific
conditions.

(…Contd)
Wind has the ability and force

Prevailing wind patterns are determined by

1. variations of solar radiation with latitude

2. the Coriolis effect (deflection due to Earth’s rotation)
3. the configuration of continents and ocean basins and
4. the location of mountain ranges.
 EROSION DEPOSITION
TRANSPORTATION

METHODS FEATURES METHODS CAUSES NATURE OF

DEPOSITS

Deflation Desert Pavement or

lag deposits

Corrasion or Cave rocks, Saltation Loss of Dunes

Suspension velocity, Loess
Abrasion Mushroom Table&
Rolling or Traction settling of Ripples
Pedestal rock heavy
Yardang particles, rain

Ventifacts
Impact or
Attrition

WIND EROSION TRANSPORTATION AND DEPOSITION

 WIND EROSION
Chiefly three methods:
• Deflation: The lifting and removal of loose
sand, dust particles from the Earth’s surface.
Forms shallow basins called deflation basins.
• Corrasion or Abrasion: The wearing down of
solid rocks by the impact of wind borne
particles.
• Attrition: Wind blown particles collide each
other and get worn.
 TRANSPORTATION BY WIND
Three methods:
• Saltation: results from impact and elastic bounce.
• Suspension: particles are lifted high into
atmosphere and are carried great distances
before they settle.
• Rolling or Traction: the movement of particles on
ground.
The coarser fragments are carried in this way.
 DEPOSITION BY WIND
Causes:
• Any obstruction to wind
• Reduction in velocity
• Increased load
• Rain
 AEOLIAN LANDFORMS
• Are formed by the erosion and deposition of
windblown sediments.
• The sediments are generally sourced from deserts,
glacial deposits, rivers, or coastal shorelines.
• Aeolian sediments are often composed of well-
rounded, sand-to silt-sized particles, that are
weathered by wind abrasion during transport.
• Sediments are deposited when the velocity of the
wind falls and there is not enough energy available
to entertain and transport the sediments. Sands will
begin to accumulate wherever they are deposited
and often continue to move along the ground.
 EROSIONAL LANDFORMS
1.VENTIFACT
• Formed by abrasion effect.
• Stones with flat surfaces.
• Commonly distinguished by two or more flat
faces meeting at sharp ridges, generally well
polished.
• The windward face of the rock is flattened and
smoothened.
• If has one smooth surface then known as
EINKANTER and if three DREIKANTERS.
Ventifact shaped by wind
abrasion into flat surface
2. YARDANG
• A yardang is an elongate ridge or remnant
rock feature sculpted by abrasive action.
• Oriented parallel to the prevailing wind.
3. MUSHROOM TABLE or PEDESTAL ROCKS

• Isolated rocks from which the base has been

partially cut by the undercutting of the wind.
4. DESERT PAVEMENTS OR LAG DEPOSITS
• Formed when wind carries finer, more
lightweight particles such as sand away.
• Large particles are left behind and protected
from further erosion – desert pavements.
• Also called as desert armor.
• The areas covered with large sized rocks are
called Hamadas.
Desert Pavement
5. DEFLATION BASINS

• Deflation basins are depressions formed in the

deserts due to removal of sands to a greater
extent.
• Formed by eddy air currents.
• Also known as deflation hollows or blow outs.
• Measure from few centimetres to several
kilometres across.
• Depth up to 10m.
Small deflation basins in sandstone formations in the Colorado Plateau
DEPOSITIONAL LANDFORMS
• Dunes
• Loess
• Sand Ripples
Dunes

 Dunes are classic aeolian landforms.

 They are stable or advancing landform of windblown
sands.
 They originate as a mound of free sand from a sandy
surficial deposit or from a blowout.

(…Contd)
Dunes

 As the mound grows it develops the dune

asymmetry characterized by a gentle windward
slope and a leeward slip face at the angle of repose
for sand.
 Dunes are much less mobile.
 They migrate downwind as sand saltates up the
windward face.
Dunes-classified

Dunes are further classified into the following

types:
a) Barchans dunes
b) Parabolic dunes
c) Transverse sand dunes and
d) Longitudinal dunes.
 SAND DUNES & IT’S TYPES

• A hill made of sand formed by aeolian processes .

• Form due to intrection with the wind .

• The area covered by extensive sand dunes is known as

DUNE FIELD.

• The valley or the low area between the dunes is called a

SLACK.
 SAND DUNE’S COMPONENTS &
MIGRATION

BACKSLOPE-The gradual slope of a dune that faces the prevailing winds.

CREST-The highest point of a dune.

SLIP FACE- The steep slope that lies on the leeward side of a sand dune.
 DIFFERENT TYPES OF DUNES
A. Barchan
• Crescent-shaped dune whose long axis is
transverse to the dominant wind direction.
• The wings or arms or horns are directed
leeward side.
• Concave in leeward and convex in windward
side.
• Formed from a unidirectional wind.
• Single slipface.
 leeward

windward

Barchan
B. Transverse Dunes
• Long asymmetrical dunes that form
perpendicular to wind direction.
• Formed when the source of sand is elongated
one and transverse to wind direction.
• Single long slipface.
C. Parabolic Dunes
• Crescent-shaped dunes whose long axis is
transverse to dominant wind direction.
• Convex in leeward side and concave in
windward side.
• Multiple slipfaces.
D. Longitudinal or Seif Dune
• Sinuous dune that can be more than several
kilometres long and height may go up to
100m.
• Formed when direction of wind is constant.
• More or less parallel to wind direction.
• Crests may be sharp or rounded.
E. Star Dune

• Large pyramidal or star shaped dunes with

three or more sinuous radiating ridges from a
central peak sand.
• Has three or more slipfaces.
• Does not grow along the ground but does
grow vertically.
F. Dome

• Mound of sand that is circular or elliptical in

shape.
• Has no slipfaces.
G. Reversing

• Dunes that are intermediate between star and

transverse dunes.
• Ridge is asymmetrical and has two slipfaces.
 Loess
• Windblown silt and clay Deposits far from their source
• Typically yellowish brown, composed mostly of silt-size grains of
quartz, feldspar and clay.
• „ Soils on Loess Deposits are some of the most fertile in the world
3. SAND RIPPLES
• Miniature dunes within a dune (not more than 2 inches tall).
Sand Ripples occur as a result of larger grains accumulating as
smaller grains are transported away.
• May form from cross winds and appear to be traveling in a
different direction than the large dune.