Eolian Features Produced by the December 1977 Windstorm, Southern San Joaquin Valley, California

Abstract

High wind velocities during a windstorm in December of 1977 in the southern San Joaquin Valley, California, created eolian features and effects of a magnitude not previously reported in the literature. Three principal mechanisms of sediment movement by wind were studied by examining the size distribution of deposits in telephone poles (saltation and suspension), feeder pens and abandoned buildings (saltation and suspension), and gravel ripples (surface creep). The maximum grain sizes of rocks lodged in telephone poles at heights of 240, 160, and 80 cm are 7 mm X 11 mm X 6 mm, 10 mm X 15 mm X 6 mm, and 20 mm X 23 mm X 5 mm, respectively. In some areas with rocky soils, lag materials formed gravel ripples.