The wind in Kuwait is an active agent of the erosion of rock and soil, and the transportation and accumulation of particulate materials. High winds are combined with the following influences:

In addition, human activities during the last 15 years contributed to soil erosion and the encroachment of sand. War machinery and ground fortifications during both the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988) and the Gulf War and its effects (post 1990) also disturbed the desert surface. Due to these factors, windblown landforms constitute the most prominent features, and are differentiated into erosional (wind eroded) and depositional (wind accumulated).

Erosional Forms: Very little is known about the erosional forms in Kuwait, compared to the plethora of information on the depositional ones (e.g., dunes, sand sheets, etc.). Three types of erosional forms are recognized: yardangs, desert lag (serir) and deflation hollows.

Yardangs constitute streamlined features of different compositions and dimensions. High rates of wind erosion at the windward extremity of yardangs result in the undercutting and falling of large blocks. This phenomenon is termed frontal retreat. At the northern outskirts of Jal Az-Zor escarpment large-scale forms of yardangs are developed in the sandstone of Ad-Dibdibah Formation.

Desert lags (serir) are formed by the erosion of poorly sorted, water-laid deposits. The fine particles (silt and clay) are removed by the wind while coarse grains (granules, pebbles and cobbles) survive as an armor that protects the underlying fine sediments.
Deflation hollows constitute shallow depressions that are carved out in both consolidated and unconsolidated layers. In Adh-Dhubaiyah at the southern coastal plain, deflation hollows are cut in lagoonal deposits (sabkha), the depth of which rarely exceeds 50 centimeters from the ground surface. The shallow water table represents the base level of erosion of the hollows.

Depositional Forms: In Kuwait, vast expanses are covered by shifting sands which accumulate into numerous forms. These exhibit variable morphologic and dynamic characteristics, reflecting differences in wind regimes, genesis and local geologic conditions. The four main forms of aeolian accumulations are sand sheets, aeolian wadi-fills, sand dunes and sand drifts. These accumulations are mainly composed of quartz grains with smaller amounts of feldspars, fragments of volcanic rocks, calcrete and gypcrete. They may be free (mobile), anchored or stabilized.