thumb|right|The Chinle Badlands at [[Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, Utah, United States]]

Badlands are a type of dry terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils have been extensively eroded. They are characterized by steep slopes, minimal vegetation, lack of a substantial regolith, and high drainage density. Ravines, gullies, buttes, hoodoos and other such geologic forms are common in badlands.

Badlands are found on every continent except Antarctica, being most common where there are unconsolidated sediments. They are often difficult to navigate by foot, and are unsuitable for agriculture. Most are a result of natural processes, but destruction of vegetation by overgrazing or pollution can produce anthropogenic badlands.

Badlands topography

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Badlands are characterized by a distinctive badlands topography. This is terrain in which water erosion has cut a very large number of deep drainage channels, separated by short, steep ridges (interfluves). Such a drainage system is said to have a very fine drainage texture, 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 . However, it has been estimated that the badlands of Badlands National Park erode at the relatively high rate of about per year. The White River draining Badlands National Park was so named for its heavy load of bentonite clay eroded from the badlands.

Anthropogenic badlands

thumb|[[Cheltenham Badlands, Caledon, Canada]]

Although most badland topography is natural, badlands have been produced artificially by destruction of vegetation cover, through overgrazing, acid rain, or acid mine drainage. Once established, however, this type of erosion can continue rapidly, if land clearing, overgrazing, and increased foot traffic by humans persists, as the shale is highly susceptible to erosion.

An example of badlands created by mining is the Roman gold mine of Las Médulas in northern Spain.

Etymology

The word badlands is a calque from the Canadian French phrase , as the early French fur traders called the White River badlands 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 , meaning 'bad land' or 'eroded land'.

The term malpaís means 'badlands' in Spanish, but refers to a terrain of lava flows that is unlike the eroded badlands of the White River.

Human impact

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

Locations

thumb|[[Valle de la Luna (Argentina)|Valle de la Luna, San Juan, Argentina]]

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

Argentina

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

Canada

thumb|[[Drumheller, Alberta, Canada]]

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

The Big Muddy Badlands in Saskatchewan gained notoriety as a hideout for outlaws.

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.

China

thumb|[[Zhangye National Geopark, Gansu, China]]

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.

India

Garbeta, Eastern India, is a badlands located in a monsoon climate. Chambal 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

thumb|The "Calanchi" of [[Aliano, in the Italian region of Basilicata]]

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 New Zealand – the Pūtangirua 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.

Spain

alt=Badland landscape from the Bárdenas Reales, in Navarre, Spain.|thumb|[[Bardenas Reales|Bárdenas Reales, Navarre, Spain]]

The Bardenas Reales near Tudela, Navarre, the Tabernas Desert in Tabernas, Almería, parts of the Granada Altiplano near Guadix and possibly Los Monegros in Aragon are examples of Spanish badlands.

Turkey

Turkey has extensive badlands,

United States

right|thumb|[[Toadstool Geologic Park, Nebraska, U.S.]]

In the U.S., Makoshika State Park in Montana and Badlands National Park in South Dakota are quite conspicuous examples of extensive badland formations; also located throughout this region are the three component sites of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, an assemblage of badlands in western North Dakota named after longtime part-time resident and former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona also encompasses numerous badlands. These areas have also come to serve as significant sources of paleontological and geological research samples.

Another popular area of badland formations is Toadstool Geologic Park in the Oglala National Grassland located in northwestern Nebraska. Dinosaur National Monument in Colorado and Utah are also badlands settings, along with several other areas in southern Utah, such as the Chinle Badlands in Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument. A small badland called Hell's Half-Acre is present in Natrona County, Wyoming. Additional badlands also exist in various places throughout southwest Wyoming, such as near Pinedale and in the Bridger Valley near the towns of Lyman and Mountain View, near the high 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 trope inside various media, particularly westerns.

<gallery mode="packed">

Image:Badlands00503.JPG| Badlands National Park, South Dakota, U.S.

Image:HellsHalfAcre.JPG|Hell's Half-Acre, Wyoming, U.S.

Image:Panorámica de Las Médulas.jpg|Las Médulas, León, Spain

Image:Badlands at the Blue Gate, Utah.JPG|Badlands near the Fremont River in Utah, U.S.

Image:Vigdísarvallavegur, Iceland - panoramio.jpg|Vigdísarvallavegur, Southern Peninsula, Iceland

</gallery>

See also

  • Earth forest
  • Tsingy de Bemaraha Strict Nature Reserve

References

  • Badlands National Park (U.S. National Park Service)
  • The Badlands: Nature's Time Capsule – Documentary about the badlands of South Dakota.