Badlands

This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article. (October 2022)

Badlands are a type of dry terrain where softer

Badlands are found on every continent except Antarctica, being most common where there are

Badlands topography

Badlands are characterized by a distinctive badlands topography.^[3][4] This is terrain in which water erosion has cut a very large number of deep drainage channels, separated by short, steep ridges (interfluves).^[5] Such a drainage system is said to have a very fine drainage texture,^[6] as measured by its drainage density. Drainage density is defined as the total length of drainage channels per unit area of land surface. Badlands have a very high drainage density of 48 to 464 kilometres per square kilometre (77 to 747 miles per square mile).^[5] The numerous deep drainage channels and high interfluves creates a stark landscape of hills, gullies, and ravines.^[3]

In addition to a dense system of drainages and interfluves, badlands often contain buttes and hoodoos. These are formed by resistant beds of sandstone, which form the caprock of the buttes and hoodoos.^[4]

Origin

Badlands arise from a combination of an impermeable but easily eroded ground surface, sparse vegetation, and infrequent but heavy rainfall.

In addition to surface erosion, badlands sometimes have well-developed piping, which is a system of pipes, joints, caverns, and other connected void spaces in the subsurface through which water can drain. However, this is not a universal feature of badlands. For example, the Henry Mountains badlands show very little piping.^[2]

The precise processes by which the erosion responses take place vary depending on the precise interbedding of the sedimentary material.^[7] However, it has been estimated that the badlands of Badlands National Park erode at the relatively high rate of about one inch or 25 millimetres per year.^[8] The White River draining Badlands National Park was so named for its heavy load of bentonite clay eroded from the badlands.^[4]

Regolith

Badlands are partially characterized by their thin to nonexistent regolith layers. The regolith profiles of badlands in arid climates are likely to resemble one another. In these regions, the upper layer (~1–5 cm or 0.4–2.0 in) is typically composed of silt, shale, and sand (a byproduct of the weathered shale). This layer can form either a compact crust or a looser, more irregular aggregation of "popcorn" fragments. Located beneath the top layer is a sublayer (~5–10 cm or 2.0–3.9 in), below which can be found a transitional shard layer (~10–40 cm or 3.9–15.7 in), formed largely of loose disaggregated shale chips, which in turn eventually gives way to a layer of unweathered shale. Badlands such as those found in the Mancos Shale, the Brule Formation, the Chadron Formation, and the Dinosaur Provincial Park can be generally said to fit this profile.^[2]

In less arid regions, the regolith profile can vary considerably. Some badlands have no regolith layer whatsoever, capping instead in bare rock such as sandstone. Others have a regolith with a clay veneer, and still others have a biological crust of algae or lichens.^[2]

In addition to lacking significant regolith, they also lack much vegetation. The lack of vegetation could very well be a result of the lack of a substantial regolith.^[9]

Anthropogenic badlands

Although most badland topography is natural, badlands have been produced artificially by destruction of vegetation cover, through overgrazing, acid rain, or acid mine drainage.^[5] The Cheltenham Badlands in Caledon, Ontario are an example of badlands produced by poor farming practices. In the early 1900s, the area was used for agricultural purposes, predominantly cattle grazing. Agricultural use ceased by 1931 and natural recovery of the majority of the property began.^[10] Once established, however, this type of erosion can continue rapidly, if land clearing, over-grazing, and increased foot traffic by humans persists, as the shale is highly susceptible to erosion.^[11]

An example of badlands created by mining is the Roman gold mine of Las Médulas in northern Spain.^{[citation needed]}

Etymology

The word badlands is a calque from the Canadian French phrase les mauvaises terres, as the early French fur traders called the White River badlands les mauvaises terres à traverser or 'bad lands to traverse', perhaps influenced by the Lakota people who moved there in the late 1700s and who referred to the terrain as mako sica, meaning 'bad land' or 'eroded land'.^[12]

The term

Human impact

Badlands are generally unsuitable for agriculture, but attempts have been made to remediate badlands. For example, reforestation is being attempted in the

Garhbeta, Eastern India, badlands^[15] Revegetation and reforestation have been studied in the black marl badlands of the French Alps. Austrian black pine can become established and then be gradually replaced by native deciduous species. However, the time scale for this process is many decades.^[16]

Locations

San Juan, Argentina

Badlands are found on all the continents except Antarctica. The presence of unconsolidated sediments is a strong control on their locations.^[17]

Argentina

The

Valle de la Luna ("Valley of the Moon") is one of many examples of badland formations in midwestern Argentina.^[18]

Canada

The Cheltenham Badlands are in Caledon, Ontario, not far from Canada's largest city Toronto.^[19]

The Big Muddy Badlands in Saskatchewan^[20] gained notoriety as a hideout for outlaws.^[21]

There is a large badland area in Alberta, particularly in the valley of the Red Deer River, where Dinosaur Provincial Park is located, as well as in Drumheller, where the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology is located.^[22]

China

See also: Zhangye National Geopark and Danxia landform

Zhangye National Geopark is a badlands area known for its colorful rock formations. It was voted by Chinese media outlets as one of the most beautiful landforms in China and became a UNESCO Global Geopark in 2019.^[23]

India

Garhbeta, Eastern India is a badlands located in a monsoon climate.^[15] Chambal^[24] spread across northern parts of Madhya Pradesh, southeastern Rajasthan and southern parts of Uttar Pradesh known for its lawlessness and dacoity is another example of badlands. A small strip of badlands is also found in western Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.

Italy

In Italy, badlands are called "calanchi". Some examples are Aliano (Basilicata), Crete Senesi (Tuscany) and Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio).

New Zealand

A well-known badlands formation in

Putangirua Pinnacles, formed by the erosion of the conglomerate of an old alluvial fan – is located at the head of a small valley near the southern tip of the North Island.^[25][26]

Spain

The

Los Monegros in Aragon are examples of Spanish

badlands.

Turkey

Turkey has extensive badlands,

Göreme National Park.^[27]

United States

In the U.S.,

Navajo County encompasses numerous badlands that also abuts the Navajo Indian Reservation and is directly north of Joseph City, Arizona. Many dinosaurs are believed to be buried in the immediate area and exploration has been ongoing since the early 20th century.^[28]

Among the

Uintah Mountains. Pinnacles National Park in California also has areas of badlands, as does the Mojave Desert in eastern California

.

Culture and media

Badlands have become a popular

westerns.^[29]

Image gallery

• 
  Badlands National Park, South Dakota
• 
  Hell's Half-Acre, Wyoming
• 
  Las Médulas, Spain
• 
  Badlands below North Caineville Plateau by the

  Fremont River, Utah

See also

• Earth forest
• Tsingy de Bemaraha Strict Nature Reserve
• Calanque – Narrow, steep-walled inlet on the Mediterranean coast
• Death Valley – Valley in the Mojave Desert, Eastern California

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Badlands.

Look up badlands in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Badlands National Park (U.S. National Park Service)
• The Badlands: Nature's Time Capsule – Documentary about the badlands of South Dakota.
• "Bad Lands" .
  New International Encyclopedia
  . 1905.