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Desert Pavement Top View

Desert Pavement Side View

Desert pavement forms when wind blows away smaller and lighter particles like sands, leaving the larger and heavier particles like cobbles behind. Since terrestrial vegetation in deserts is sparse, or in the case of the Dry Valleys non-existent, the finer particles are not protected from the wind and are not held in place. The lack of vegetation also allows heavy wind to hit the ground because there are no trees to block and disperse the wind.

John and Karen

As you can see in John's graphic, the soils in this desert area were a mixture of sand, pebbles, and rocks and used to be much thicker. It takes hundreds or even thousands of years for the wind to blow away enough sand to make desert pavement.