Features produced by Wind Erosion

Rock pedestals

Wind sculpts stratified rock into pedestals by wind abrasion and weathering, e.g. Gava Mountains, Saudi Arabia

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Yardangs (width to depth of 4 : 1)

A ridge and furrow landscape. Wind abrasion concentrates on weak strata; leaving harder material upstanding. The Sphinx at Giza may be a modified yardang!

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Zeugen

Wind abrasion turns the desert surface into a ridge and furrow landscape, e.g.various areas in Bahrain

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Inselbergs

Wind (and water) attacks the original surface leaving round-topped inselbergs (through exhumation). The material removed has a deep-seated ‘decay’ origin and may display extensive ‘unloading’ (subsurface weathering). There are two major forms: domed inselbergs (bornhardts) and boulder inselbergs (Kopjes, rubbins), e.g. Matopos, Zimbabwe

Bornhardt Formation

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Kopje Formation

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Deflation hollows

These are caused by the removal of fine particles by the wind, lowering the surface and creating a hollow, the best known example is the Qattara Depression.

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