Badlands National Park, South Dakota, USA Nov 10, 2023

This densely layered image is not an error of your screen, but the fascinating tiers of fossil beds in Badlands National Park in South Dakota. Under the multicoloured coating lies the land"s history, conserving the remains of ancient horses, camels, tigers and rhinos. The barren landscape, decorated with pinnacles and prairies, was mainly formed by two contrary forces of nature: deposition (the process of small rocks being moved around and deposited in new places) and erosion (the process of rocks wearing away). The Red Shirt Table, at 1,020 metres, is the highest point on the rugged terrain.

© Grant Ordelheide/Tandem Stills + Motion

palette

Today in History

Happy birthday Badlands National Park
Nov 10, 2024Caribbean flamingos, Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico
Nov 10, 2025Black-tailed prairie dogs in Badlands National Park, United States

More Desktop Wallpapers:

A real fun guy…er, squirrel
Beauty by the bay
This museum sets the prairie on fire
Jun 19, 2025Masai giraffe mother grooming her calf in the Serengeti, Tanzania
Apr 24, 2024The white trilliums in Ontario, Canada
Sep 30, 2025Koala in the Great Otway National Park, Australia
Sep 22, 2025Autumn equinox
Sep 19, 2025Thousand Islands region, St. Lawrence River, USA-Canada border
Nov 3, 2025Jellyfish swimming in the Pacific, Guerrero, Mexico
Jul 27, 2026Tiffany Dome, Chicago Cultural Center, Illinois, United States
Jul 25, 2025Colourful houses of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
Mar 9, 2025Kedarkantha, Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand
A time-worn medieval marvel
Jan 15, 2024Makar Sankranti
Feb 27, 2024Polar bear cubs
Mar 14, 2024Ayutthaya Historical Park, Thailand
Golden cliffs of deep space
Jun 10, 2025Everglades National Park, Florida, United States
The pillar of democracy
May 3, 2025Happy International Astronomy Day!
Jun 22, 2025World Rainforest Day
How’s the air up there?
Nothing says ‘San Francisco’ quite like...
Oct 12, 2025Village of Saranac Lake, New York, United States
Santa slalom
Nov 26, 2025Olive orchard in the Serra de Tramuntana, Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain
Oct 27, 2025Chhath Puja
Sep 7, 2023Camels in the desert, United Arab Emirates
Jul 9, 2024Talampaya National Park, Argentina
Bring out the king cakes