wind action

Wind affects plant growth in at least three significant ways: transpiration, carbon dioxide intake, and mechanical breakage. Transpiration (the loss of water mainly through the stomata of leaves) increases with wind speed, but the effect varies greatly among plant species; also, the effect is…

…greater part of them were wind-formed. The sheets occupy the eastern part of the Kalahari. Their surface elevation varies only slightly, with relief measured in tens of feet per mile. The depth of the sand there generally exceeds 200 feet. In many areas the sand is red, the result of…

Wind action may lead to dam or dune construction or erosion and thus can play a role in lake basin formation. The latter case has been demonstrated in North America; a number of basins in Texas and northward, on…

Playas and saline flats are particularly susceptible to wind action. Clays and salts form crusts that curl and flake upon drying. The flakes and curls are readily deflated, and these wind-eroded sediments are then deposited leeward of the playas and saline flats from…

…caves are chambers scoured by wind action. They are common in desert areas where they are formed in massive sandstone cliffs. Wind sweeping around such a cavity erodes the walls, floor, and ceiling, resulting in a bottle-shaped chamber usually of greater diameter than the entrance. Eolian caves are rarely longer…

…Pleistocene record and indicate widespread wind action at certain times and in certain areas of the world. Mention has already been made of the importance of loess–paleosol records in working out regional chronologies and paleoclimatic history. Loess blankets large portions of the central and northwestern United States, Alaska, the east…

The mechanisms involved in wind erosion depend on soil texture and the size of soil particles. Dry soil particles of silt or clay size can be transported over great distance by wind. Larger particles that are the size of fine sand, 0.05 mm (0.002 inch) to 0.5 mm (0.02…