Land forms created by the action of wind

Mushroom Rock

» The wind blowing in desert regions erodes the rock near the ground surface to a great extent. At the same time, the upper part of the rock gets eroded to a lesser extent.
» As this is a continuous process, the foot of the rock becomes narrow.
»The top portion of the rock then looks like an umbrella. This land form is called a mushroom rock.

Sand dunes

» Sand gets transported from one place to another along with the wind.
» At a spot where the wind meets an obstruction or where the speed of the wind reduces, dunes are formed out of the sand which gets deposited.
» The side of the dune facing the wind has a gentle slope and the opposite side has a steep slope.
» Because of the slow speed of the wind, the sand on the gentle slope gets carried to the top and comes down the steep slope on the other side. Sand dunes gradually move forward in this manner.

Barkhan

» The fine sand particles carried by the wind get deposited when the speed of the wind is reduced forming crescent shaped dunes. Such hills are called barkhans.

Loess

» Loess is a soil finer than sand.
» Loess is a silt transported by the wind from the desert regions and deposited much further way.
»Loess transported from the desert regions of Central Asia has been deposited in layers in China. The plain they form is known as the Loess plain.