Badlands National Park
Badlands is a national park in the United States, and in the state of South Dakota. The park was founded in 1978 on an area of 942 km2. The name translates as “bad lands”, and the landscapes of the park only enhance the effect. Gloomy panoramas of barren mountains and sharp-edged ridges are cut by impassable ravines and narrow gorges. A large number of cliffs create gloomy landscapes, reminiscent of the barren nature of distant planets. This is especially noticeable in the Sage Creek wasteland, the rocks there, depending on the lighting, change colors from yellow-orange to golden-red.
Creation of an unusual landscape
The territory of Badlands National Park is located on a plateau that was formed 80 million years ago and covers an area of 15,500 km2. Previously, there was a shallow lake here, but 65 million years ago, movements of the earth’s crust formed the Rocky Mountains, and this area was also affected, which is why the bottom of the sea rose. An immense swampy savannah appeared, which dried out to form hilly prairies. But the drainage continued, and eventually the lush valley became a gloomy desert.
Gradually, strong winds dragged away the light rocks, revealing the remains of ancient fossil animals. In Badlands National Park you can find fossils of reptiles and fish that lived more than 23 million years ago. These lands were once inhabited by a saber-toothed tiger, a three-toed horse, and a camel.
The Sioux Indians used to come here in search of fur-bearing animals and a place where they could sell them. They moved south along the Missouri River and near the White River their march practically stopped. The Indians stepped into the "black spots". This place seemed very hostile to people. There was a frightening emptiness all around, the heat made it difficult to move quickly, the situation was aggravated by summer rains, turning the clay into an impassable viscous slurry.
Flora and fauna in Badlands Park
Although the landscape looks uninhabited, it serves as a refuge for a few plants and animals. here you can find coyotes, hares, rattlesnakes, gopher snakes, and rodents. Plants have a hard time taking root in the Badlands, as everything can change in an instant. But nevertheless, on the edges of the Badlands, where the weather is not so severe, there are areas with vegetation. Bison grass and thermopsis grow here, which serve as food for bison. Prairie dogs set up homes in the fields, but in fact these are rodents that dig real cities underground with special rooms that serve as bedrooms, toilets, and dining rooms. Trees and shrubs also grow here: junipers, red cedars, yellow willows, wrens. Of the animals in the Badlands, it is worth noting: antelope, bighorn sheep, bison.
Erosion in the park is constant, with heavy rains hitting the Badlands in June, creating a vast network of rivers. These rivers erode ravines, raise the soil, and water passing through the rocks falls into the gorges, taking with it light rocks. Streams of stones and clay rush into the White River, and flow through it into Missouri. Every year the rocks become thinner by about 15 cm.
