GRANULOMETRIC SAND TYPES IN DESERTS COMPA RED (THE FREQUENCY-DISTRIBUTION AS A CARRIER OF INFORMATION)

Grain size frequency distributions of sands have been used for interpr etation in many publications by the authoress. This paper is a synthes is of the accumulated knowledge on the significance of frequency distr ibutions, and at the same rime, it responds to the criticism of the re sponse diagram. According to eight characteristic frequency distributi on curves, a series of granulometric sand types is presented, ranging from slight aeolian reworking via increasing deflation to ''aged'' bar chan sands, The ''acolian age'' is understood as a function of time, m ind velocity and pre-existing landforms. Barchan sands may represent a lmost any sand type because of the specific dynamics of migration. The classification of sands into types of the granulometric series delive rs information - carried by the specific curves - on sand mobility and transport, dune dynamics, aeolian age, the ''aging'' of ergs and pala eomorphology.