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Weekly Photo Challenge:Arranged
Friends, These old corral logs and loading chute were arranged by cattlemen to load cattle into trucks. This remnants of ranch life appears abandoned, the fence is falling down and looks like a wild cow went through it ( sorry last week’s theme) . There are still a great number of ranches in the badlands running cattle on the rich grasslands. Over 1 million acres within the Little Missouri National Grassland are in federal, state and private ownerships, but all are managed by the US Forest Service. The Maah Daah Hey trail traverses the grasslands and connects the South unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park to the Northern Unit. This trail is over 90 miles and is open to travel by horseback, bicycles or hiking. When traveling this trail, remember to close any gates, don’t want to let the cows out, til Tomorrow MJ
Grasslands
Friends, The badlands are known for their grasslands that provided rich grazing for cattle. The country attracted Theodore Roosevelt who invested in two cattle ranches and spent some time “cowboying” in this country. In one of his speeches, he attributed his badlands experiences as instrumental in making him the President of the United States. Others were also attracted to the badlands and the livestock industry. My grandfather raised horses, cattle, pigs, chickens and 5 children in the badlands. With a large garden, they were able to live in relative comfort. Then the depression and droughts of the 1930s made life difficult and many were forced to find other means of support. This barn and corral is a reminder of the hard times and desertion of many homesteads in the badlands. til Tomorrow MJ
Stone Tree Stump
Friends, While this tree stump looks like wood, it has turned to stone. Petrified tree stumps are found all over the badlands, and you would swear that they are made of wood. The preservation of tree structure is so realistic, you can see worm holes and cell structures. These trees were redwoods and a forest of stumps is present in the western side of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The park roads do not pass close to this forest, but it is only a two mile hike across the flats to access a land of stumps still being eroded from the clay slopes. Like bleached bones, their white is a stark contrast to the dark green of living cedar trees. In the early days, stumps ten feet in diameter and 80 foot logs were found, a remnant of a tropical past. til Tomorrow MJ
Snake Tracks in the Sand
Friends, this pile of sand with a snake track across, reminds me to watch where i put my hands and feet in this country. Rattlesnakes, bull snakes and blue racers appearing on the trail can startle an unwary hiker and put the feet in reverse very quickly. But this image also reminds me that Wind Canyon is slowly turning into a huge pile of sand. Now I love sand. Sand is one of my favorite elements of nature, the tiny grains under a microscope are tiny colorful gems that reflect the colors of their parent rocks. The massive cliffs of Wind Canyon that stand high above the Little Missouri River are being eaten by wind and water and the gap between the sandstone walls has greatly increased even within my lifetime. Below is an image of Wind Canyon today and by the time my great-grandchildren are able to visit this country, the gap between the walls will be much greater than today. til Tomorrow MJ
Sandstone Wind Erosion
Friends, Sandstone comes in many hues from white to a deep gold color in the Wind Canyon area of the southern Little Missouri Badlands. Wind Canyon is a class room for wind erosion effects on soft sandstone. The wind carves caves, caverns and figures in the soft stone. Many have carved their initials in the rock, only to return a short time later to find them washed away with the sand. The bottom image is another wind-eroded area of Wind Canyon showing pencil tips figures. til Tomorrow MJ
Concretions
Friends, these brown round rocks are concretions, a cemented sandstone that is found throughout the badlands. The Romans made a cement from limestone, volcanic ash and clay. These elements were all present in the early badlands and it is feasible that a natural cement was formed from mixtures of limestone (calcium carbonate) ,clays and volcanic ash. This cement concentrated in a softer sediment and the cannonballs were formed. Now the softer clay layer is eroding and these concretions are falling out of the walls.
The most interesting are the cannon balls that are 2-3 feet in diameter that are present in the Northern Little Missouri Badlands. In the southern badlands, smaller cannon balls are often being exposed on slopes of bentonite that has a popcorn texture when dry. The bottom photo shows a cross section of a small cannonball that has a white nodule in the interior. til Tomorrow MJ
Hot Rock
Friends, this holey rock is part burned coal and part scoria. Masses like these are prevalent and scattered throughout an area where a coal vein was burning in the recent past. They resemble lava formed from volcanic activity and are highly vesiculated (new word for the day). Walking the higher ridges around the coal vein area, great areas of the plains have sunk away as a result of the underground clay shrinking in the intense heat. The burned coal is a gray color and sometimes is tightly bound to the adjacent scoria as seen in this image. til Tomorrow MJ
Cap Rock Resistance
Friends, This image shows the principle of differential erosion (i made that up it is not a proper geological term) , the softer material will erode faster (duh) and the red caprock will protect some portions of the clay from erosion. The red cap rock protects the taller pillars, while the foreground pillars are slumping away unprotected, hence differential erosion. 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
MJ Springett 