10.3.1. Loess

Loess is fine-grained material that has been transported and deposited by the wind. The sediments come from glacial outwash plains, where glaciers deposit fine particles of silt and clay, or from desert areas that have little vegetation to anchor small particles. Prevailing wind patterns blowing across these environments can produce thick deposits of loess downwind of the area. In China such yellowish wind borne dust from the Gobi desert is called Hwangtu-the yellow earth