wind can also erode

When most of us think of erosion, we think of water, the coast, or rivers eroding rock. Did you know, though, that wind can also erode? Particularly in areas like deserts, beaches, or poorly planted farmland, wind can be a formidable force in eroding rock by either abrasion or deflation. Abrasion represents the wearing down of rock by wind-blown sediment like sand, leaving wind-made ventifacts, and deflation is the removal of sediment from rock by wind. Even though the amount of sediment moved by wind erosion is very small compared to the amount eroded by water, it is still vastly important, as demonstrated by the dust bowl in the United States in the 1930’s.