Wind Erosion

Ch. 8 Section 3
 Wind Erosion
► When air moves, it picks up loose materials
and transports it to other places.
► Air differs from other erosional forces
because it cannot pick up heavy sediments.
► Wind carries and deposits sediments over
large areas.
► When wind erodes by deflation it blows
across loose sediments and removes small
particles such as silt and sand.
 Wind Erosion
► The heavier material is left behind.
► When windblown sediment strikes rock, the surface of the
rock gets scraped and worn away by the process called
abrasion
 Abrasion is similar to sandblasting , as sand grains strike
against rock and break off small pieces. The rocks get
worn down gradually.
► Deflation and abrasion occur mostly in deserts beaches
and plowed fields, which have fewer plants to hold
sediment in place
Abrasion at Work
Abrasion Again!!
 Wind Erosion
► Sandstorms occur when the wind blows
strongly in sandy parts of deserts and sand
grains form a low cloud just above the
ground.
► When soil dries out, particles of silt and clay
can be carried by the wind in dust storms.
These storms blow topsoil from fields and
places where vegetation has disappeared.
THE DUST BOWL
Wind way is the dune moving?
 Wind Erosion
► Wind erosion is common where there are no
plants to protect the soil.
► One of the best ways to stop wind erosion is
to plant vegetation.
► Farmers have planted trees to act as
windbreakers that prevent soil erosion.
 Wind Erosion
 As the wind hits the trees, its energy of motion
is reduced, and it is no longer able to lift
particles.
 Windbreaks also trap snow and hold it on land,
which increases the moisture level of the soil.
► Plantswith fibrous Root systems, such as
grasses, twist and turn between particles in
the soil and hold it in place.
Wind breaks!
 Deposition by Wind
► Sediment blown by wind are eventually
deposited.
► Over time, these deposits develop into
landforms
► Wind deposits of fine-grained sediments
known as loess are found near the
Mississippi and Missouri Rivers.
► This sediment was blown from glacial
outwash areas and then settled on hilltops
and in valleys.
Loess
 Deposition by Wind
 The particles packed together in a thick,
unlayered yellow-brown deposit that is as fine
as talcum powder.
►A dune is a mound of sediment drifted by
the wind.
 Dunes form when sand begins to build up
behind an obstacle, and more and more
material becomes trapped.
 Deposition by Wind
►A sand dune has 2 sides. The side facing
the wind has a gentle slope, the side away
from the wind is steeper.
 Unless they are planted with grasses, most
dunes migrate away from the direction of the
wind.
 As dunes lose sand on one side, they build it up
on the other.
 Deposition by Wind
The shape of a dune depends on the amount of
sand or other sediment available, the wind
speed and direction, and the amount of
vegetation present.
► Erosionand deposition are part of a cycle
that constantly shapes the land.
Sand Dune