What is the major cause of erosion of land forms in the desert?
The major cause of erosion in deserts is running water from the infrequent rain storms. Many people think that the major cause is wind. However, wind only erodes in two ways. It picks up loose material and then it uses this material to grind away at the rocks. The only material that wind can pick up that can do any significant grinding is sand. Even in the strongest winds, the highest that the wind can lift the sand is about 3-4 feet. So, this is as high above the surface that wind can erode. Therefore all of the erosional features that you see in a desert that rise above about 3 feet must have been eroded by water. Once you know what to look for, it is fairly easy to tell the difference between the two. As water flows across the surface, flows in channels. These channels tend to merge to form larger and larger channels. The result is erosion in a pattern of branching networks of channels. On the other hand, as wind blows across the land, it is not confined to channels. Therefore, as t
