If I design a planet with stronger winds (maybe on average 40 mph, rather than the 7 mph average winds we have here), would interesting land formations be more common due to increased wind erosion, or would the winds wear the landscapes down to be flat and boring?
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$\begingroup$ more wind means more thermal difference which means faster erosion of all kinds which means more muted landforms $\endgroup$– JohnJun 30, 2022 at 0:51
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4 Answers
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Wind is only one cause of weathering. Atmospheric density contributes a bit as a thinner atmosphere won't have the force behind it to do at much damage as thicker air. Thin air travels much faster as less energy is needed to move it and it loses less energy to impacts, but it has little force behind it. Rain, snow, ice, glacial movement, water erosion, atmospheric composition, and even gravity all play important roles in weathering. Weathering is countered by geological upheaval (rising mountain ranges, volcanic activity, etc.). Plants provide protection against weathering by holding topsoil in place and deflecting wind. The removal of prairie grass to grow wheat is what caused the Oklahoma dust bowl due to the much shallower root system of the wheat plant. Making your planet’s rain more acidic would also cause increased weathering. Mildly acidic rain would increase the acidity of your bodies of water which would erode the landscape more quickly.
If you want your planet to have interesting land formations you can play with some of the forces which cause/prevent erosion. As long as they balance out in the end, you can get your results. Just pay attention to secondary effects. Increasing geologic activity would increase the rate of earthquakes which also cause tsunamis. A thicker atmosphere means that storms, tornadoes, and hurricanes will cause more damage. Changing a single aspect of a complex system can cause a ripple effect.
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Landforms created mostly by wind are called aeolian landforms and such landforms are common in arid places (water is more effective at shaping land than wind, so the effects of wind on landforms tends to be overshadowed in places that have lots of rain).
Some of these are pretty cool, for example, you get "mushroom rocks":
Sand dunes are the most common aeolian landform.
These features are found on Mars and Pluto in addition to Earth.
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My gut (sorry I don't have any better source than that) tells me such a world would end up looking pretty similar to Earth. Strange looking wind-eroded rock formations would be created more quickly, but would also then be eroded away more quickly too, ultimately cancelling the effect out.
answered Jul 1, 2022 at 10:11
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Nifty land formations are on display because they exist where it's arid, where once is was not. The substrate being sandstone is the most important, followed by there being enough water and carbon dioxide in the air to form carbonic acid, but not so much that either too much is formed, or it is subject to substantial water erosion. Lastly, the wind comes along and blows away the dust, further facilitating what is largely a chemical process.
It doesn't get any "more interesting" than the Delicate Arch, and while the wind certainly isn't helping it be any less delicate, water and carbon dioxide are its main enemies, followed by its 1.6M annual visitors.
Geological processes that occurred over 300 million years ago caused a salt bed to be deposited, which today lies beneath the landscape of Arches National Park.[11] Overtime, the salt bed was covered with sediments that eventually compressed into rock layers that have since been named Entrada Standstone.
Rock layers surrounding the edge of the salt bed continued to erode and shift into vertical sandstone walls called fins. Sand collected between vertical walls of the fins, then slightly acidic rain combined with carbon dioxide in the air allowed for the chemical formation of carbonic acid within the trapped sand. Overtime, the carbonic acid dissolved the calcium carbonate that held the sandstone together.[12] Many of the rock formations have weaker layers of rock on bottom that are holding stronger layers on top.
The weaker layers would dissolve first, creating openings in the rock. Gravity caused pieces of the stronger rock layer to fall piece by piece into an arch shape. Arches form within rock fins at points of intense fracturing localization, or weak points in the rocks formation, caused by horizontal and vertical discontinuities.[13] Lastly, water, wind, and time continued this erosion process and ultimately created the arches of Arches National Park
Wind and water attacked these fins until, in some, the cementing material gave way and chunks of rock tumbled out. Many damaged fins collapsed. Others, with the right degree of hardness and balance, survived despite their missing sections. These became the famous arches.
