Physical geography of Badlands National Park

Badlands National Park has an arid steppe climate and is located in the Southwest part of South Dakota. Some of the most recognizable geographic landforms in Badlands National Park are Buttes, Pinnacles, and Spires. The main geographical factor that has helped shape the park into its current state is erosion. Erosion is the transfer of weathered material from one location to another and can happen at many different rates. The estimated rate of erosion in Badlands National Park is about one inch per year. There are several different ways for erosion to shape and change an areas physical geography. One way is by physical weathering, this process is the disintegration of rocks or minerals by a physical or mechanical process.  Another process that helps erosion is salt weathering; this occurs when salt crystals get wet and expands, often forming cavernous erosion in rocks and minerals. Another cause of erosion is a process of weathering involving sand and wind; however this is usually not as damaging as other forms of weathering. The main process responsible in the erosion of Badlands National Park is physical weathering, with water being the strongest force.

This image epitomizes the physical geography of Badlands National Park, this area has been eroded down and not built up. Image credit: http://www.tssphoto.com/index.php?p=788

Possible physical landscape of Badlands National Park in 1000 years

I hypothesize that in 1000 years the landscape of Badlands National Park will look similar to today’s landscape but with more extreme erosion and a drier climate. One way to support this hypothesis is that currently Badlands is eroding at one inch per year and will continue to erode at this rate. Also because the Park is in a rain shadow from the Rocky Mountains the climate will remain dry.

One of the most recognizable land forms in the park is “the wall”, with the current erosion rate this area might be unrecognizable in the future. Image Credit: http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/national-parks/badlands-national-park/

Possible physical landscape of Badlands National Park in 10,000 years

At the rate that Badlands National Park is eroding any current landscape features would be unrecognizable in 10,000 years. This is because over 800 feet would be eroded in 10,000 years at the current rate, this does not bring into account possible catastrophic events. So it is possible that another major volcanic eruption could take place in the Yellowstone area and ash from that could add to the Park.

This is the possible area of ash fall if another massive volcanic eruption happened in the Yellowstone area. Image credit: http://viewzone2.com/yellowstonex.html

Possible physical landscape of Badlands National Park in 1,000,000 years

It is hard to hypothesize the possible state that the landscape of Badlands National Park could be at in one million years. But using the uniformitarianism concept that what has happened in the past will happen again in the future. I believe that it is possible of a low lying sea or ocean in the area of Badlands National Park. This is because there is fossil evidence that there was a low lying sea during the Cretaceous period covering parts of South Dakota and much of mid-America.  

This image depicts how the US looked during the Cretaceous period and could possibly look if another low lying ocean covered middle America in the distant future. Image credit:

http://anunexpectederror.blogspot.com/2012/06/not-with-bang-but-whimper.html

Summarization of current and future landscapes of Badlands National Park

Overall I believe Badlands National Park will continue to erode at the current rate and will remain an arid climate. The only exceptions to this are catastrophic events that are hard to predict and could change the geography of the park.



This image is a panoramic view of the Badlands and is a good depiction of the eroded landscape that makes up the majority of the physical geography there. Image credit: http://parks.mapquest.com/national-parks/badlands-national-park/