WIND EROSION

HOW WIND CAUSES EROSION

• Wind itself is the weakest agent of erosion
• Wind causes erosion by deflation and abrasion
• Wind can be a powerful force in shaping land
• Yet it needs to be in an area where there are
• Few plants to hold down the soil

DEFLATION

• Deflation: the process by which wind removes small surface materials.
• When wind blows over the land it picks up small pieces of sediment.
• The stronger the wind, usually the bigger the pieces.
• Deflation is the main way wind cause erosion
• Deflation can produce a bowl-shaped hollow called a blowout

ABRASION

• Abrasion: the process of scraping or wearing.
• Due to erosion, abrasion by wind carried sand can sometimes polish rock
• Most deserted landforms are the result of weathering and erosion.

WIND DEPOSTION

WIND DEPOSTION

• Wind erosion and deposition may form sand dunes and loess deposits
• All the sediment picked up by wind eventually falls to the ground.
• This happens when the wind slows down or when a obstacle traps the sediment

SAND DUNES

• Sand dunes come in many shapes and sizes
• They can be very small or very large.
• Little by little the sand shifts with the wind from one side to another
• Plants can grow on sand dunes, and the roots help the dune stay in place.

LOESS DEPOSITS

• Sediment is finer than sand, such as clay and slit
• This fine wind-deposited sediment is loess
• Loess helps form fertile soil
• Many areas with think loess deposits are valuable farmlands