Wind Erosion

It is known that wind erosion is a natural geological factor, without which the earth wouldn’t be called earth, because this planet too needs some changes. Infringe into this article, the definitions, causes, effects and other parameters that comprises this erosion.

The purpose of this article is to observe the effects of wind on sand as in desserts and on sandy coastlines. Wind erosion is defined as the transportation and re-deposition of soil particles by wind which in turn segregates the fine sand and smaller particles from an arable land. Wind erosion usually takes place on a land which is bare, loose, cohesive, dry or finely granulated, thus causing a removal of the finest particles of soil and devising the fertility of the soil to degrade. This action is also known as aeolian (or eolian) which means erosion (it was named after the Greek God ‘Aeolus’).

When the wind is blown in the sand and manages to hit an obstacle, the sand tends to pile up into a ridge or a mound and is called a dune. Such dunes by the wind can be actuated grain by grain. Well, it’s seen that wind erosion has become major problems in most parts of the world, particularly in the arid and semiarid regions it has worsened even more. Agricultural practices that comport tilling and sowing are disturbed by the erosion of the soil in large quantities. Places like Australia, North and South America, Africa, eastern, central and southern parts of Asia, etc., are the major victims to lose the balance of the ecosystem. Let’s dig deeper into this article and see besides the action of picking and moving of objects and materials by the wind, what other facts and factors are involved under this aspect of environmental science.

The Causes and Effects Generally, the process of wind erosion is a natural phenomena, but it can sometimes be accelerated by the influence of humans also, especially by factors of overgrazing, agriculture, cultivation and urbanization. Inducing deforestation

to construct a civilization or undiscriminating the land for an agricultural or cultivation purpose, etc., exposes the soil to an increment of wind erosion. Along with this gets affected are the microorganisms and living things that live deep inside the soil and are known to be the benefactors for the human race. They help in the soil aeration and structure of the land.

The condition of wind erosion (keeping the particle size into consideration) is that, it has three various modes of particle transportation, along the surface – creep, saltation and short-term and long-term suspension – i.e. hours and days. Also, writing on the wind erosion facts, the main factor is the velocity of the wind. Basically, there are two favorable conditions to the occurrence of wind erosion: one – the meteorological conditions (i.e high wind speed) and two – the ground conditions. If the land or soil is susceptible with no residue of crops or plants on it, there is an erosion of the texture and organic matter from the surface of the land. Such a process of soil erosion leads to a massive imbalance between the structure of the soil and the roots of the crops. Well, there are plenty other influencing parameters to the causticity of the soil too, like roughness, vegetation cover, filed size, duration and frequency of wind (velocity, humidity, direction) radiation, rock type, evaporation and also precipitation. Hence, now we know, there is not one reason but several different elements involved which affect the geological posit.

After knowing the wind erosion facts and all its causes and effects, we shall see the names of different places where wind erosion has changed the visual aspect of the ecosystem on earth.

Wind Erosion Examples

• Antarctica – Most of the boulders in this place has been eroded by the prevailing winds.
• Wisconsin – There is a large basin which is deflated near the Spring Green by the flood plain of the Wisconsin River.
• Michigan – There are coastal dunes a.k.a beach dunes on the shore of Lake Michigan.
• Colorado – The dunes in the Great Sand Dunes National Monument, located northeast of Alamosa, are the highest dunes in U.S which are over 200 meters high.
• Nevada – The dune east of Fallon in Nevada are formed by sand and wind blown miles across the valley. It is known that funneling of the wind takes place through the low pass but is unable to carry the sand with it.

Under the roof of this world there are too many aspects which are unheeded by the human race. Simple changes in geological conditions can affect us or sometimes we become one of the causes of their occurrence. From this article, it was interesting to see the increase in the occurrence of wind erosion due to several factors that play an unnoticed important role everyday, that too in the same environment we breathe in.