Badlands guardian geology
![badlands guardian geology badlands guardian geology](https://assets.atlasobscura.com/media/W1siZiIsInVwbG9hZHMvcGxhY2VfaW1hZ2VzLzQ3NzllNjE1NzZlYzhiYTk3ZWM0NWQ5NDM1N2ZjNDVkYWMyMTY4M2MuanBnIl0sWyJwIiwiY29udmVydCIsIi1xdWFsaXR5IDgxIC1hdXRvLW9yaWVudCJdLFsicCIsInRodW1iIiwiMzcyeDI0OCMiXV0/4779e61576ec8ba97ec45d94357fc45dac21683c.jpg)
Digital geologic maps include files for viewing in GIS software, a guide to using the data, and a document with ancillary map information.Scoping summaries are records of scoping meetings where NPS staff and local geologists determined the park’s geologic mapping plan and what content should be included in the report.
![badlands guardian geology badlands guardian geology](https://www.landolia.com/photo/2013/photo-badlands-dinosaur-provincial-park-37329-xl.jpg)
The products listed below are currently available for this park, check back often for updates as many maps, reports, and posters are still in progress. The Geologic Resources Inventory produces digital geologic maps and reports for more than 270 natural resource parks. Regional Geologyīadlands is a part of the Great Plains Physiographic Province and shares its geologic history and some characteristic geologic formations with a region that extends well beyond park boundaries. Students and teachers of college-level (or AP) introductory geology or earth science teaching courses will find that each park's Geologic Resource Inventory report includes the Geologic History, Geologic Setting, and Geologic Features & Processes for the park which provides a useful summary of their overall geologic story. More than 50 species of herbivores and 14 species of carnivores have been discovered in the Eocene and Oligocene White River Group, primarily in the Oligocene Brule Formation (Kiver and Harris 1999).Īll NPS fossil resources are protected under the Paleontological Resources Preservation Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-11, Title VI, Subtitle D 16 U.S.C. Recent research on the Oligocene camelid, Poebrotherium wilsoni, has shed light on the dietary habits of these camelids as well as Oligocene climate (Wall and Hauptman 2001).įossils from the Oligocene strata of the White River Badlands have nearly twice as many mammalian families than are known today for all of North America (Weedon 1990). Golden moles, hedgehogs, and shrews ate Oligocene insects. All sizes of animals, from rodents to the elephant-size Titanotheres, lived on the floodplains that covered the Badlands region during the Oligocene. Paleontological Resourcesīadlands National Park contains some of the most species-diverse Oligocene fossil beds in the world, contributing greatly to the science of vertebrate paleontology.
![badlands guardian geology badlands guardian geology](https://www.ancient-origins.net/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/Badlands-of-Dinosaur-Provincial-Park.jpg)
The same weathering, mass wasting, and erosion processes that formed the landscapes in the past continue to create the distinctive badlands topography and landforms and expose the fossils that are visible today. Badland topography was first recognized and described in South Dakota and the White River Badlands are the type locality for other areas that display similar intricately eroded topography. Vegetation is sparse and erosion has carved the region into distinctive spires, pinnacles, hoodoos, monuments, buttes, and mesas that are known collectively as the White River Badlands.
![badlands guardian geology badlands guardian geology](https://www.ancient-origins.net/sites/default/files/styles/slideshow/public/field/image/Badlands-Guardian.jpg)
Today’s landscape is dramatically different from the forests and savannas that covered the area in the Oligocene. Past marine, near-shore, and terrestrial environments are all reflected in the sedimentary rocks exposed in the park. The Badlands strata record approximately 75 million years of Earth history. Paleontological resources were a major reason for establishing Badlands as a National Monument in 1939, for adding acreage in 1976, and for elevating the monument to National Park status in 1978. Fossil beds in the Eocene and Oligocene formations of the White River Group allow reconstruction of the evolution of these mammal species and their habitat. More than 250 vertebrate species, including both herbivores and carnivores, are represented in the park. Geologic Features and Processesīadlands National Park encompasses 242,756 acres in southwestern South Dakota and is home to striking erosional formations and the world’s richest collection of Oligocene- age vertebrate fossils. In-depth geologic information is contained in the baseline inventory products of the Geologic Resources Inventory, see table below.