Shrub Mounds
Shrub Mounds
(vegetative mounds), individual accumulations of sand and dust formed around shrubs in deserts (in particular, around saxaul in Middle Asia). Shrub mounds reach heights of 50-70 m. The growth of shrub mounds occurs as a result of the shrub’s obstruction of wind currents. During the winter green shoots fall off, resulting in a concentration of sodium sulfate, sodium carbonate, and other salts in the shrub mounds, as well as in the packing down of the sand. After the shrubs die, dense so-called burial mounds remain, which are gradually dispersed by the wind.