An Aeolian (derived from the Greek Aeolus—god of the winds) landform is a surface feature produced on Earth (and other planets, e.g., Mars) by the erosive or constructive action of the wind.
These wind-constructed landforms are rarely preserved on the surface of the Earth except in arid regions where, in most cases, there is a lack of moving water to erase them. Aeolian landforms are listed and described below.
• barchan—an arc-shaped sand ridge (dune), comprising well-sorted sand.
• blowout—sandy depressions in a sand dune ecosystem caused by the removal of sediments by wind.
• desert pavement—a desert surface that is covered with closely packed, interlocking angular or rounded rock fragments of pebble and cobble size.
• desert varnish—dark coating found on exposed rock surfaces in arid environments.
• dune—hill of sand built by Aeolian processes.
• erg—large, relatively flat area of desert covered with windswept sand with little or no vegetative cover (NASA 2009).
• loess—a homogeneous, typically nonstratified, porous, friable, slightly coherent, often calcareous, fine-grained, silty, pale yellow or buff, windblown sediment.
• medanos—in South America, medanos refers to continental dunes, whereas dunes refer to dunes of coastal regions.
• playa—a dry or ephemeral lakebed, generally extending to the shore, or a remnant of an endorheic lake (a lake that does not flow into the sea).
• sandhill—an ecological community type found in many parts of the world.
• ventifact—rocks that have been abraded, pitted, etched, grooved, or polished by wind-driven sand or ice crystals (Segerstrom 1962).
• yardang—a wind-abraded ridge found in a desert environment.
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