Action of Wind and Water in Arid Areas

Syllabus tag: KCSE | Geography | Form 3 | Topic 25 Action of Wind and Water in Arid Areas

Lesson objectives

By the end of this topic, you should be able to:

• Describe wind erosion and the features it produces.
• Describe wind transportation and depositional features, including dune types.
• Describe the work of water in arid areas.
• Explain the significance of arid landscapes and the problem of desertification.

Summary

In arid areas, wind erodes by deflation, abrasion and attrition, producing rock pedestals, zeugen, yardangs and deflation hollows. It deposits dunes — the crescent barchan lying across the wind, the long seif lying along it — and loess. Water, though rare, does more work than wind, cutting wadis and forming pediplains and inselbergs.