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USGS CMG InfoBank: Wind Agent

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Comment: 12:25 - 12:58 (00:33)

Source: Annenberg/CPB Resources - Earth Revealed - 22. Wind, Dust and Deserts

Keywords: "James Sadd", desert, landscape, wind, sand, silt, transportation, dune, continent, "ocean basin"

Our transcription: Although it plays the dominant role, running water is not the only geologic agent that shapes the desert landscape.

Throughout most of the year, the desert surface is dry.

This allows the wind to pick up grains of sand and silt and move them.

Sand is relatively heavy.

It's not carried far by the wind.

It tends to be deposited as dunes close to the source.

On the other hand, silt is much lighter, finer grained.

In a single storm, silt can be carried across entire continents or ocean basins.

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