An area of heavily eroded barren land with little vegetation, often characterized by colorful rock formations and deep ravines; typically used in plural as 'badlands.'
American term from 'bad' plus 'land.' Early French fur traders called such areas 'les mauvaises terres' (the bad lands), and English speakers translated this literally.
The Badlands of South Dakota are a paleontologist's treasure chest—the rapid erosion that makes them 'bad' for farming actually exposes fossils from 37 million years ago, making them invaluable for science!
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