A hamada (, ) is a type of desert landscape consisting of high, largely barren, hard rocky (basalt) plateaus, where most of the sand has been removed by deflation.
Formation
Hamadas are produced by the wind, which removes the fine products of weathering, an aeolian process known as deflation. The finer-grained products are taken away in suspension. At the same time, the sand is removed through saltation and surface creep, leaving behind a landscape of
gravel,
and bare rock.
[B.W. Sparks. Geomorphology, 2nd ed., pp. 322-3. Longman Group Ltd. 1972. ()]
Related landforms
Hamada is related to
desert pavement (known variously as reg, serir, gibber, or saï), which occurs as stony plains or depressions covered with gravels or boulders rather than as highland plateaus.
[
]
Hamadas exist in contrast to ergs, which are large areas of shifting .[McKnight, Tom L. and Darrel Hess. Physical Geography: A Landscape Appreciation, 8th ed., pp. 495-6. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. 2005. ()]
See also
Hammada, a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Amaranthaceae.
