Category Archives: Badlands
Weekly Photo Challenge: Through
Friends, this thistle growing in the badlands is through blooming, the top bloom has gone to seed and the bottom bloom is in its full glory. This plant is 2-4 feet high perennial that grows on a dry plain, and if it is a native thistle, may be a wavy-leaved thistle. The white fuzz has seeds attached that are dispersed on a windy day to all parts. Many non-native thistle specie are invasive and farming practices are directed toward eliminating thistles from grain fields. But the native thistles are strongly linked to bees and butterflies life cycles and may have some medicinal benefits to humans. Thistles are also valuable to survival of goldfinches. They line their nests with the fuzz and feed the processed seeds to their young. I do not know if this is a native or non-native thistle, but next time I see such a plant, I will look more closely. The underside of leaves of native thistles have a whitish appearance and are covered with tiny hairs. So ends the botany lesson for the day. til Tomorrow MJ
Rivlets
Friends, I like to call this image “rivlets”, i know it isn’t a proper geological term, but it describes what i see. These little rivlets are not yet rivers, but still display the properties of rivers. The yellow stream on the left shows a braided formation while the middle shows a more meandering stream. Both rivlets are washing yellow sediments downhill following the path of least resistance and going around the harder scoria (red) deposits as they are very resistant to erosion by water. The toadstool formations near the top of the image show the results of erosion on layers of differing densities and hardness. I love the colorful patterns after a rain or in this case, a snowfall, melting and running downhill. til Tomorrow MJ
Bentonite deposit
Friends, don’t adjust your monitor, these clay beds are definitely blue. This bentonite clay, the raw material for scoria formation, is often found adjacent to stripes of lignite coal. Bentonite can be used in pottery to form ceramics and glazes as well as other commercial applications. The most valuable applications are dependent on the ability of very small particles to hold water . Suspensions, colloids and emulsifiers made with bentonite are commercially viable. When water hits these bentonite slopes, the surface is extremely slippery, sticky and mucky. Many times I have come back to camp with clay snowshoes attached to my boots that take days to wear off. til Tomorrow MJ
Erosion at work
Friends, the clay layers are carved by water on this hillside. The inverted v formations result from water flowing downhill. When meeting resistance the flow slows and forms new channels to continue to flow downhill. The badlands are constantly being washed away downstream so get your photos while you can. They say that one inch/ year is being removed by water. til Tomorrow MJ
Scoria Point in the Snow
Friends, this is Scoria Point on a September morning when we had an overnight dusting of snow. The next day it all melted, but the day was perfect for photography. The saturated reds of the rock, golds of fall grasses, and greens of cedar trees as well as the fall foliage made for a delightful day. I have visited these hills at least once a year since I was nine years old, and the landscapes never cease to amaze me. My love for this country is very deep within me, I hope i can share it adequately. til Tomorrow MJ
Mountain of Red Rock-Scoria Point
Friends, this is a formation called Scoria Point located within the Theodore Roosevelt National Park in western North Dakota. This red rock or scoria appears many shades of red, from pink to purple and all the oranges in between and the shade is dependent on the light. The day this image was taken, the light was slightly diffused through some clouds and the color appears a rusty orange with pink accents. But in the evening with a setting sun, the hill appears a bright orange and in the snow with cloud cover, the rock appears a very deep almost iridescent red. I haven’t yet captured the spirit of this rocky scene, but i keep trying. til Tomorrow MJ
Badlands Red Rock
Friends, this red rock is fragile and will break like any good china cup. The formation process is similar to producing bricks or fine tiles. A clay (bentonite) is baked by a coal vein that is burning underground. The coal is a soft lignite and may be spontaneously ignited or the vein may be lit by grass fires whipped by the wind. These fires may burn trees and then travel down the roots to the seam underground. When the various clays are baked and glazed by the igneous process, they are a form of porcelain or as it is locally called, scoria. When a chunk of this light rock is dropped, it clinks on a hard surface, and it is often called North Dakota Clinker. I know i am at home when i see the scoria peaks at sunset. til Tomorrow MJ
Badlands-The land
Friends, This image illustrates the two formations that make up the Little Missouri Badlands in North Dakota. Sediments layers that were deposited after the demise of the dinosaur were eroded by wind and water to form the rugged topography. The hill nearest is topped by a red rock deposit, locally called scoria, that was formed by coal burning under a layer of bentonite clay. When Lewis and Clark traveled through these badlands, they saw many of these burning coal veins. As a child, i remember walking on the warm clay and peeking down through the cracks of an actively burning vein with great wonder. So we begin a journey into a land lit by the setting sun and ancient fired formations. til Tomorrow MJ
MJ Springett 