Aeolian processes

High school (ages 12+)
Environment & Earth

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/aeolian-processes

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the sediment transport mechanisms?Saltation, suspension, and surface creep
2. What is the key erosional features?Ventifacts, yardangs, desert pavement
3. How does wind start moving sand and rocks?Wind must be strong enough to lift particles that are held by gravity, cohesion, or roughness. It can do this by bouncing particles (saltation) or carrying tiny ones high (suspension).
4. What kinds of landforms do wind make?Wind can create ripples, dunes, and big ridges called yardangs. It can also smooth rocks into hollows called tafoni.

Saltation: The bouncing and hopping movement of sediment particles along a surface by wind or water.
Deflation: The erosion of fine-grained surface material by wind, leaving behind coarser particles.
Loess: Fine-grained, wind-deposited silt that can form highly fertile soils.
Yardangs: Elongated, streamlined ridges carved by wind erosion in soft rock or soil.