Further observations on sastrugi, snow dunes and the pattern of surface winds in Antarctica

Abstract

Surface winds are responsible for the two main types of feature observed on the Antarctic plateau: (a) sastrugi, produced by katabatic (gravity) winds, and (b) snow dunes, which are raised by blizzard winds. The two are often associated in the sense that the severest patches of sastrugi seem to be eroded out of dunes deposited by a previous blizzard. However, sastrugi are by no means limited to this; they may occur more or less continuously, merging one into the next over a wide area of plateau.