barchan
/ˈbɑːk(ə)n
/noun
A crescent-shaped shifting sand dune, as found in the deserts of Turkestan.Now a team publishing in the 23 December print issue of PRL reports it has generated miniature replicas of crescent-shaped dunes known as barchans in a water tank....
- Transverse ridges have a higher sand supply than barchans but also exist in unidirectional winds.
- As he described them to the nomads of the Empty Quarter, they thought of the hard dark dunes found in their own desert called barchan dunes.
Origin
Late 19th century: from Turkic barkhan.