Debris flow in Afghanistan taken from youtube.com. As the video shows, these flows move with tremendous speed and force.
This flow was created by mass wasting due to large amounts of rain. As the rain breaks away at the rocks and hillside, the debris along with water flowes into the river in large amounts.
As the flow passes through the riverbed, it softens the walls of the valley, allowing for slides later on, but it also pulls away at the edges, widening the valley more and more each time.
This alluvial fan in N. Afghanistan, found on io9.com, is a depository for large amounts of sediment.
This debris flows down the river until it reaches a point where it is able to spread out into an alluvial fan. These areas are prime farmlands. The flow of debris brings with large amounts of nutrients perfect for farming.
As shown in this map, from Professor Allen's lecture, S.W. Afghanistan’s soil is largely made up of aridisol. which is low in nutrients and high in calcium carbonate in the B horizon.
Aridisol is dry and low in nutrients, just as the name says, the soil is “arid.” The lack of rain and high temperatures in this area allow calcium carbonate to build up in the soil turning it “toxic” making plant growth scarce.
These sand dunes, picture found on features.rr.com, were created from the loose aridisol blown into rifts.
This dry soil is easily eroded and broken away due to wind. This in turn allows for the formation of sand dunes.
All of these forms have large effects on the inhabitants. It can either create harsh and dangerous conditions or it can allow for great growth.
