Parna is a windblown sediment, in many ways similar to

loess Loess (, ; from german: Löss ) is a clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. Ten percent of Earth's land area is covered by loess or similar deposits. Loess is a periglacial or aeolian ...

. It is found in the Riverina Plains, in south-east Australia. It was named by Bruce Butler, a pedologist working for

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentar ...

in 1956. Parna is an aeolian deposit, like loess, but the particles are small clay mineral agglomerates. The material sources are dried up lakes and river floodplains. It has been described as calcareous red clay material, of aeolian origin, that blankets large parts of the Murrumbidgee and Murray River valleys. Cattle,S.R.,Greene,R.S.B.,McPherson,A.A. 2005. Aeolian dust deposition in south east Australia: impacts on salinity and erosion. crcleme.org.au/Pubs/Monographs/regolith2005/Cattle_et_al.pdf

References

Clay minerals group {{silicate-mineral-stub