The site you are visiting is one that has historical
purposes, but we would like to call your attention to the
geological details in the background.
What are Badlands?
A badlands (also badland) is a type of dry terrain where softer
sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils have been extensively eroded
by wind and water. Canyons, ravines, gullies, hoodoos and other
such geological forms are common in badlands. They are often
difficult to navigate by foot. Badlands often have a spectacular
color display that alternates from dark black/blue coal stria to
bright clays to red scoria.
The Lakota called the topography "Makhóšica",
literally bad land, while French trappers called it " les
mauvaises terres à traverser" – "the bad lands to cross".
The Spanish called it tierra baldía ("waste land") and
cárcava ("gully"). The term badlands is also apt: badlands
contain steep slopes, loose dry soil, slick clay, and deep sand,
all of which impede travel and other uses. Badlands form in
semi-arid or arid regions with infrequent but intense rain-showers,
sparse vegetation, and soft sediments: a recipe for massive
erosion.
Some of the most famous fossil beds are found in badlands, where
erosion rapidly exposes the sedimentary layers and the scant cover
of vegetation makes surveying and fossil hunting relatively
easy.
(Credit to Wikipedia)
What Caused the Badlands to Form?
The Dakotas badlands region has one of the highest known rates
of erosion. Stream erosion, as well as wind and rain, have carved
the plains into strangely-shaped buttes and pinnacles, leaving
unique structures like hoodoos and cap rocks. These formations were
created through the process of differential weathering, which wears
away layers of softer material more quickly, leaving behind the
more resistant strata. The stratified bluffs of the badlands are
often separated by streams and tributaries of nearby rivers like
the Little Missouri, which contribute to water erosion in the area.
Torrential downpours cause short-lived but deep, rapidly flowing
flood waters in the otherwise dry channels or gullies that cut deep
into slopes. Scarce vegetation, a factor of the severe climate,
leaves few roots or protective cover to help hold the hillsides in
place.
Fierce winds also sculpt the topography, revealing colorful
composite layers that include volcanic ash, shale, limestone,
sandstone, mudstone, and lignite. Over time, each layer has
solidified into rock. Together, they reveal what has happened to
the landscape over several millions of years.
For half a billion years, between roughly 570 and 80 million
years ago, the badlands were covered by ocean, beginning with the
Cambrian Sea. As the land rose, water drained away, leaving streams
to carry sand and gravel from the west, creating a wetland plain.
Between 65 and 80 million years ago, the Rockies were forming to
the west, and the plain was eventually covered in volcanic ash,
carried by wind and water.
Measuring as thick as 2,000 feet, the oldest and deepest layer
in the badlands consists of shale, a sedimentary mudstone from the
uplifted ocean floor. Atop the shale, a layer of white volcanic ash
contains fossils dating back 35 million years. These are remains of
animals that lived in the area during the Oligocene period, known
as the "Golden Age of Mammals.".Slicing easily through the soft
sedimentary rocks, the river and its tributaries carved the
fantastically broken topography that is today’s badlands.
Remnants of a continuous grassy plain that once blanketed the
region are now found in patches on the tops of some of the rock
formations in the badlands. Scientists predict that the badlands
will return to the state of a flat prairie within the next
half-million years due to the very agents of erosion that continue
to shape them.
(Credit to Teachers
Domain-http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/etv08.sci.ess.earthsys.badland/)
History of Site
The site that you are visiting today is significant to the
development of North Dakota’s history. We invite you to learn
more about this site and the history of this family by visiting the
North Dakota Historical Society’s website at:
http://history.nd.gov/historicsites/chateauLesson/lp1_index.html
Special thanks for their assistance in the placement of this
earthcache.
To log this cache please message through Geocaching.com
the answer
to the following:
1. What color of layers do notice in the geographical form?
2. What do you think shaped the badlands in front of you?
3. At the coordinates there is a large sign-what is the scale of
the Upper Right 'Plat of Medora' on the back of this sign?
4. What was housed on this complex?