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Concept
Yardang
Summary
A yardang is a streamlined protuberance carved from bedrock or any consolidated or semiconsolidated material by the dual action of wind abrasion by dust and sand and deflation (the removal of loose material by wind turbulence.) Yardangs become elongated features typically three or more times longer than wide, and when viewed from above, resemble the hull of a boat. Facing the wind is a steep, blunt face that gradually gets lower and narrower toward the lee end. Yardangs are formed by wind erosion, typically of an originally flat surface formed from areas of harder and softer material. The soft material is eroded and removed by the wind, and the harder material remains. The resulting pattern of yardangs is therefore a combination of the original rock distribution, and the fluid mechanics of the air flow and resulting pattern of erosion.
The word itself is of Turkic origin, meaning ‘steep bank’, as this type of spectacular landscapes rising are best developed in the interior deserts of this region. And the word was first introduced to the English-speaking world by the Swedish explorer Sven Hedin in 1903. In China, they are sometimes known as yadan from the Chinese adaptation of the Uyghur form of the same name.
Other names for them are "mud-lions", "mushroom rocks", "sphinx-like hills", "koukour" in Tunisia, and "kalut" (Persian for "ridge") in Iran. The massive features of mega-yardangs are called "ridges and corridors" (crêtes et couloirs) in French.
A yardang is formed in cohesive material. Hedin first found the wind-sculptured "clay terraces" or yardangs in the dried up riverbed of the Kurruk-daria in Central Asia. However, yardangs can be found in most deserts across the globe. Depending upon the winds and the composition of the weakly indurated deposits of silt and sand from which they are carved, yardangs may form very unusual shapes — some resemble various objects or even people.
Yardangs come in a large range of sizes, and are divided into three different categories: mega-yardangs, meso-yardangs, and micro-yardangs.
Official source
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