News From the Field

How wind sculpted Earth's largest dust deposit


September 1, 2015

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China's Loess Plateau was formed by wind alternately depositing dust or removing dust over the last 2.6 million years. A new study is the first to explain how the steep-fronted plateau formed, said lead author Paul Kapp of the University of Arizona. Wind blew dust from what is now the Mu Us Desert into the huge pile of consolidated dust known as the Loess Plateau. The plateau is the size of the state of Arizona.Full Story

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University of Arizona

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