Aeolian abrasional, depositional and deflational features indicate exceptionally strong southwesterly winds in a giant sandstone weathering pit in Grand Staircase Escalante Monument, about 22 km southeast of Escalante, Utah. The 60 m wide, 5?20 m deep pit has developed near the summit of a broad, barren 160-m-high dome on the Lower Jurassic Navajo Sandstone. Unlike other giant weathering pits (10?30 m diameter) in the region, the bedrock floor of this pit is undulatory, and there is a cylindrical, 10-m-high rock pedestal in the centre of the pit. An active dune surrounds the central pedestal and at times has as much as 8 m of local relief. The dune shifts considerably over brief (<1 year) periods of time. Fine-grained (<250 �m) dunal [...]
