badlands

badlands
/bad"landz'/, n. (used with a pl. v.)
a barren area in which soft rock strata are eroded into varied, fantastic forms.
[1850-55, Amer.; BAD1 + LAND + -S3; trans. of F mauvaises terres, perh. based on expressions in AmerInd languages, alluding to the difficulty in traversing such country]

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Barren region covering some 2,000 sq mi (5,200 sq km) of southwestern South Dakota, U.S. It has an extremely rugged landscape almost devoid of vegetation.

It was created by cloudbursts that cut deep gullies in poorly cemented bedrock; its extensive fossil deposits have yielded the remains of such animals as the three-toed horse, camel, saber-toothed tiger, and rhinoceros. Badlands National Park (379 sq mi [982 sq km]), lying mostly between the Cheyenne and White rivers, was established as a national monument in 1939 and a national park in 1978.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Badlands — are a type of arid terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and clay rich soils have been extensively eroded by wind and water. It can resemble malpaís, a terrain of volcanic rocks. Canyons, ravines, gullies, hoodoos and other such geological forms …   Wikipedia

  • badlands — s.n. pl. (geol.) Terenuri argiloase, degradate de ape torenţiale, cu văi lipsite de vegetaţie; pământuri rele. [pron. bedlendz. / < engl. badlands < bad – rău, land – teren]. Trimis de LauraGellner, 18.11.2004. Sursa: DN  badlands (teren… …   Dicționar Român

  • badlands — [ badlɑ̃ds ] n. f. pl. • 1960; mot angl. amér., calque du fr. « mauvaises terres » ♦ Anglic. Géogr. Terrains argileux ravinés par l érosion torrentielle. badlands [badlɑ̃d(s)] n. f. pl. ÉTYM. 1960; bad lands, 1941; angl. des États Unis, calque du …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Badlands — the Badlands an area of land in the US, between the southwest of South Dakota and the northwest of Nebraska, where no crops can grow and there are strangely shaped rocks and hills …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • Badlands — (engl., spr. bädd länds, »schlechtes Land«), Wüstenstrich in Nebraska (s. d.) …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • badlands — arid, highly eroded regions of the western U.S., 1852, from BAD (Cf. bad) + LAND (Cf. land). Applied to urban districts of crime and vice since 1892 (originally with reference to Chicago) …   Etymology dictionary

  • badlands — *waste, desert, wilderness …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • badlands — ► PLURAL NOUN ▪ heavily eroded land on which little can grow or be grown …   English terms dictionary

  • Badlands — [bad′landz΄] barren plateau in SW South Dakota east of the Black Hills; marked by dramatically eroded hills and containing many fossil deposits …   English World dictionary

  • badlands — ☆ badlands [bad′landz΄ ] pl.n. any section of barren land where rapid erosion has cut the loose, dry soil or soft rocks into strange shapes, as in various places in the W U.S. SYN. WASTE …   English World dictionary

  • Badlands — Die Chinle Badlands am Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument Ein Badland (auch Badlands) (von engl.: bad land schlechtes Land) ist ein von tiefen, eng stehenden Erosionsrinnen zerschnittenes Gelände in ariden Gebieten. Die Erdoberfläche in… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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