Badlands Nat'l Park

Antelope are among the present-day inhabitants of the park.
Uplands show in the distance, on the left side of this picture. In the foreground are layers of fluvial sediments with paleosols and ash layers.
Typical badlands topography consists of steep slopes and sharp ridges, marked by complex patterns of erosion.

Sandstone marks the former positions of a river channel.
At the base of the eroding Wall, the Lower Prairie slopes gently toward the White River floodplain.
The Badlands experience one of the highest rates of erosion of any place in the world.

The Lower Prairie contains some grassy areas, separated by eroding badlands.
A normal fault displaces distant layers near the center of this picture.
These deposits are rich in fossils of Oligocene mammals, such as this skull of an oreodont (a fox-sized ruminant, or cud-chewer).

Welcome to the Badlands!
The Brule Formation (mudflows and ashfalls) in the distance and the Chadron Formation (floodplain deposits) in the foreground weather differently and form contrasting slope profiles.
The Wall divides the White River to the south from the Cheyenne River to the north. This escarpment is retreating toward the north.

This page created on a Macintosh using PhotoPage by John A. Vink.

Antelope are among the present-day inhabitants of the park.	Uplands show in the distance, on the left side of this picture. In the foreground are layers of fluvial sediments with paleosols and ash layers.	Typical badlands topography consists of steep slopes and sharp ridges, marked by complex patterns of erosion.
Sandstone marks the former positions of a river channel.	At the base of the eroding Wall, the Lower Prairie slopes gently toward the White River floodplain.	The Badlands experience one of the highest rates of erosion of any place in the world.
The Lower Prairie contains some grassy areas, separated by eroding badlands.	A normal fault displaces distant layers near the center of this picture.	These deposits are rich in fossils of Oligocene mammals, such as this skull of an oreodont (a fox-sized ruminant, or cud-chewer).
Welcome to the Badlands!	The Brule Formation (mudflows and ashfalls) in the distance and the Chadron Formation (floodplain deposits) in the foreground weather differently and form contrasting slope profiles.	The Wall divides the White River to the south from the Cheyenne River to the north. This escarpment is retreating toward the north.