Blog Archives
Blue and Gold
Dear Friends, this is typical hillside in North Dakota Badlands in the evening near sunset, the shadows are already blue and the clay is very warm. Everything in the badlands is being eroded and washing away into the river. 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
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
MJ Springett 