Hi everyone! I’m out of office this week while on a mini speaking tour at a couple of geologically spectacular locations: Badlands National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park.
By the time this edition goes out, I will have already left Badlands and be moving on to the next leg of my trip—but not without sharing some interesting facts, stories, and photos from my time at the Badlands!
Geology in the Badlands
Photo Courtesy of Cate Larsen/ Diagram by the National Parks Service
Badlands National Park boasts a spectacular geological record, detailing the region’s transition from a shallow inland sea to the weathered wonderland it is today.
What are badlands, anyway?
Badlands are a type of geological terrain that features soft sedimentary rock shaped into steep slopes and spires by erosion. These slopes and spires generally lack vegetation, making the loose rock and soil even more prone to erosion.
These landscapes exist on every continent except Antarctica. Badlands National Park is one of many badlands regions in the U.S. that has been preserved for all to learn from and enjoy!
Striking geological features:
Natural rock pillars called toadstools serve as excellent landmarks in the Badlands. They’re the result of differential erosion, where harder rock layers cap softer sedimentary rock, slowing the erosion of the material beneath.
Pale-green clastic dikes can be seen cutting through many rocks in the park, their color attributed to the mineral chlorite. They form when sediment-filled cracks harden, hinting at past tectonic activity or pressure changes.
Vibrant paleosols, which are ancient soil layers preserved in rock, stand out against the other formations in the park and offer valuable insights into past environmental conditions. The Yellow Mounds in the Badlands are a great—and beautiful—example!
Fossil finds:
Badlands National Park is widely known in the paleontological community for its incredible fossil record, which features a diverse array of mammals in the Paleogene beds and notable marine creatures in the Cretaceous beds of the Western Interior Seaway.
Small deer-like mammals of the Leptomerycinae subfamily also roamed the region during this time. What’s most exciting about this is that a brand-new genus was identified in the park this year by a team of paleontologist rangers! You can read about that discovery here.
Fun Fact: Badlands National Park was one of several filming locations for the 1997 film Starship Troopers!It was selected mostly for its out-of-this-world landscape.
Highlights From My Visit
This was my second time visiting Badlands National Park to speak at the Astronomy Festival. I was thrilled to see my friends and the stunning geology again! Here’s a quick rundown of my adventure:
Behind the scenes: As a special guest of the park, I was allowed to take part in some exciting activities. I got a “backstage” tour of the collections and ongoing fossil preparation in the paleontology lab and joined my pal Ranger Ed (aka: The Bearded Ranger) on a mission to collect an early dog fossil from the park. I wasn’t kidding about Badlands just crawling with fossils!
Educational opportunities: While I was joining rangers on their weekly Adventure Hike, they asked me to chime in to help teach visitors about the geology we were seeing, especially the unique erosion of the soft sedimentary beds. I went into even more detail about it in a recent Instagram post.
Astro-Fest: The event was fantastic—even better than last year! The skies were clear and dazzling for two out of the three nights, perfect for stargazing with the dozen or so telescopes set up in the amphitheater. On Saturday night, I gave my Mars geology talk, and it was a hit! Good thing, too, because there were quite a few clouds in the sky.
All in all: Badlands National Park will always hold a special place in my heart. The stunning landscapes never cease to leave me in awe, and I gushed to my friends about how lucky they are to see this every day and teach people about it! Maybe when I retire, I’ll become an interpretive ranger, too.
Thanks so much for reading this week’s edition of GeoLifestyle! I hope you’ve begun to see some of the many things that make Badlands National Park special to geology fans everywhere!
Now, I’m off to Bryce Canyon National Park to speak at the 2024 Geology Festival! My talk, “Earth Detectives: How Geologists Study Earth’s History,” will focus on Earth-based geological investigation and encourage the audience to use their observational skills to think like geologists.
If you want to participate in the festival, come by the park this weekend and join me! You can enjoy the daytime activities and other speakers, then listen to my talk tomorrow, 12 July, at 8pm local time. For more details, see the official event page.
Wish me luck! I’ll be back next week with a new edition dedicated to the geology of Bryce Canyon and my adventure! See you then 😁
Cate Larsen
Editor, GeoLifestyle
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