Eolian Depositional Processes and Landforms

Deposits of sand and silt emplaced by wind are widespread on Earth and some extraterrestrial bodies. The processes leading to eolian deposition always involve erosion and transportation of sediment from a source region to a depositional sink, even though the deposits differ considerably in scale (e.g., small‐scale ripples versus extensive sand seas), surface topology (e.g., linear versus star dunes), internal structure (e.g., cross‐bedded lamination in dune fields versus massive structure in loess deposits), and age (e.g., recent sediments versus ancient sandstones). Wind moves silt‐sized material mainly in suspension, over tens to thousands of kilometers, whereas sand‐sized materials are moved shorter distances (0.1 m to thousands of meters), predominantly by saltation and surface creep. The geometry of eolian deposits depends on sediment supply, strength and directionality of prevailing winds, transport pathways and distance from source, and the influence of vegetation, if present.

Aeolian processes · Deposition (geology) · Earth science · Geochemistry · Geomorphology · Lamination · Landform · Loess · Prevailing winds · Sediment · Sediment transport · Sedimentary depositional environment · Silt · Sink (geography) · Aeolian processes and effects · Geological formations and processes · Geology · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Oceanography