A road through Badlands National Park.
Looking out over the array of rocks that is South Dakota's Badlands it is hard to imagine that the area was ever part of a vast sea. At one time, however, a giant ocean covered the region from what is now Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. It teemed with life and minerals. As the waters dried and receded, those elements were deposited in colorful rocks filled with animal remains, now fossils.
Once a Vast Sea
What is now South Dakota evolved over millions of years, shaped by water, wind and shifting of geological plates. About 75 million years ago, a vast shallow sea covered the area that is now the Great Plains of the United States. Fish, birds, shellfish and other creatures flourished. As they died, their remains fell to the bottom to become fossils and rock.
Uplifts Shaped the Land
Eons later, the shifting of Earth's plates uplifted vast sections, forming today's Rocky Mountains, including South Dakota's Black Hills. This raised the lands under the sea and the water gradually drained away. That now dry land became a hot and humid subtropical rainforest. New species of animals developed and thrived. They, too, died and left remains over a period from about 23 to 35 million years ago.
Climates Changed
Gradually, climates changed and there were periods of ice and volcanic eruptions. The area became cooler and drier and the plant and animal life changed. The area became first a savannah, then giant grasslands, somewhat resembling today's Badlands. Animals there were ancestors of today's horses, pigs, sheep, cats, rabbits and creatures resembling the rhinoceros and hippopotamus.
Indians Called it "Land Bad"
Wind and water erosion carved the remnants of that ancient seabed into hills and valleys with bands of varying and often brilliant colors, created by minerals and fossils from the old sea. It became a dry and forbidding landscape, with extremes of weather from searing heat to winter blizzards and little natural water. The Lakota (Dakota) Indians called it "mako sica" or "land bad."
Greatest Fossil Collection
Today, the Badlands are one of the greatest collections of fossils on Earth. Some of its vivid colored bands are fossilized soils. The Black Hills to the north and west of the Badlands are home to the Mount Rushmore monument, a giant sculpture of four American presidents, and the scene of Gen. George Custer's famous Last Stand battle. They also were once part of a gold rush triggered in 1874 when a Custer expedition found gold.
Tags: South Dakota, area became, Black Hills, million years, there were, United States
