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When there is lots of loose sand in a desert and the wind blows constantly in one direction, it builds up crescent-shaped sand dunes, whose tips point against the wind. Large barchans can be very wide and very high. |
Barchan, also spelled Barkhan, crescent-shaped sand dune produced by the action of wind predominately from one direction. One of the commonest types of dunes, it occurs in sandy deserts all over the world.
Barchans are convex facing the wind, with the horns of the crescent pointing downwind and marking the lateral advancement of the sand. These dunes are markedly asymmetrical in cross section, with a gentle slope facing toward the wind and a much steeper slope, known as the slip face, facing away from the wind. Barchans may be 9–30 m (30–100 feet) high and 370 m (1,214 feet) wide at the base measured perpendicular to the wind. They gradually migrate with the wind as a result of erosion on the windward side and deposition on the leeward side. The rate of migration ranges from about a metre to a hundred metres per year. Barchans usually occur as groups of isolated dunes and may form chains that extend across a plain in the direction of the prevailing wind.
Credit: Britannica
Picture credit: Google