Arroyos - dry stream bed, water only flows in times of flash flood. Also called wadis or dry washes.

Bajada - a continuous apron of coalescing alluvial fans below a mountain front.

Blowout - small, shallow depression created by wind erosion. Also called a deflation basin.

Bolson - a valley that is a closed basin

Desert Varnish - dark shiny stain, comprised of manganese, iron oxides, hydroxides, and clay minerals, found on the surfaces of many desert rocks. Many believe that it is biologically induced.

Erg - sea of sand

Inselberg - an outlying portion of the mountain front surrounded by alluvium (island-mountains)

Lee slope - downwind side of a dune

Loess - wind blown silt

Playa - the shallow, almost float, central part of a desert basin, in which water gathers after a rain and evaporates to leave behind silt, clay, and salts. Click to see pictures of Bonnie Clare playa.

Stoss slope - upwind side of a dune

Ventifacts - aerodynamically shaped rocks up to meters in size that have been cut, and sometimes polished, by the abrasive action of wind.

Yardangs - sculpted bedrock landforms streamlined by desert winds.