Wind Erosion

From the sand seas of the Sahara to the loess plateau of China, to the yardang fields of Iraq and the dune fields of the Lençóis Maranhenses in Brazil, wind erosion has led to the development of distinctive and often dramatic landscapes. Many of the most recognizable of these landscapes, the sand seas and dunes, for example, are the product of the deposition of wind-eroded material. Wind erosion has also shaped landforms on Mars. Although wind does not have the erosive power of flowing water or ice, its pervasiveness compensates for that lack of force. It has been estimated that as much as a third of the land area of the Earth is susceptible to wind erosion (with the continents of Asia and Africa most ...