Badlands Formations
These highly weathered formations occur on every continent except Antarctica. Badlands are typically characterized by soft, easily eroded sedimentary rock
The Painted Desert badlands near Petrified Forest National Park. Eight images stitched together
- 29 March 2024
Badlands National Park
“In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.”
Badlands formations often lend themselves well to black and white.
Sun and Rain
Raincloud over Bob
The Yellow Mounds. The mustard yellow mounds are the most colourful area of Badlands National Park. Badlands are formed of many layers laid down over millennia, and then eroded away - also over millennia - leaving colorful buttes and ridges and canyons. The yellow mounds are one of the bottommost layers and get their mustardy color from a mineral called Goethite.
The Yellow Mounds with younger, less weathered formations in the background
The formation immediately adjacent to Cedar Pass Campground
The formation next to Cedar Pass Campground (same as previous photo) converted to black and white.
The formation immediately adjacent to Cedar Pass Campground at 2AM. 15 second exposure
The Badlands formations in Badlands National Park have a lifespan of approximately one million years. They erode at about one inch a year (Badlands NPS website)
The van reflecting the sunset
Badlands Sunset