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A hamada (Arabic, حماده or الحماد ḥammāda) is a type of desert landscape consisting of high, largely barren, hard, rocky plateaus, with very little sand because this has been removed by deflation.
Contents
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Formation
Hamadas are produced by the wind removing the fine products of weathering: an aeolian process known as deflation. The finer-grained products are taken away in suspension, whilst the sand is removed through saltation and surface creep, leaving behind a landscape of gravel, boulders and bare rock.
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 sand dunes.
