chaotic terrain …

… in Badlands National Park.

Spring …

… in Badlands National Park in South Dakota.

stratigraphy …

… in Badlands National Park in South Dakota, USA.

bleak horizon …

… in Badlands National Park in South Dakota. [larger image]

a wet spring …

… in Badlands National Park, South Dakota, USA.

layer cake …

… in Badlands National Park, South Dakota, USA.

banded …

Strata in Badlands National Park in South Dakota display horizontal layers that reflect different depositional conditions. Says the National Park Service: “Different environments—sea, tropical land, and open woodland with meandering rivers—caused different sediments to accumulate here at different times.“

abandon hope …

Or should you? From Wikipedia: “For 11,000 years, Native Americans have used this area for their hunting grounds. Long before the Lakota were the little-studied paleo-Indians, followed by the Arikara people. Their descendants live today in North Dakota as a part of the Three Affiliated Tribes. Archaeological records combined with oral traditions indicate that these people camped in secluded valleys where fresh water and game were available year round.”

dry, but colorful …

color lives …

… in Badlands National Park in South Dakota.

care for a stroll …

… through the Badlands?

tough terrain …

… in Badlands National Park. For scale, note the two people near left edge of image.

more sheep …

… bighorn sheep chillin’ in Badlands National Park.

vanishing terrain …

… in Badlands National Park in South Dakota. Geologists say the Badlands erode about an inch every year. That means the Badlands, currently about 500,000 years old, will be gone in another 500,000 years. Geologically, that amount of time is just a blink of the eye.