El Malpais National Monument
by Jon Burch Photography
Title
El Malpais National Monument
Artist
Jon Burch Photography
Medium
Photograph - Digital Photography
Description
A sprawling landscape features a gently rolling terrain covered in dry grass and sparse shrubs under a clear blue sky. Distant mountains form a subtle backdrop on the horizon.
El Malpaís, in the Southwestern United States, Spain, Mexico, and other Spanish-speaking regions, are rough and barren landscapes that consist of relict and largely uneroded lava fields exhibiting recognizable lava flows, volcanic cones, and other volcanic landforms. This type of volcanic landscape is extremely rough and difficult to traverse. It is characteristic of arid environments because in more humid climates, such rough terrains are smoothed by erosion and vegetation.
The term Malpais is associated with Spanish-speaking countries and the Southwestern United States, where settlers named this landform.
In Spanish, 'Malpaís' translates to "badland," and describes the area as being extremely rough and difficult to traverse and unusable for crops. The term Malpaís is often associated with this type of lava plain terrain found in a volcanic field.
Some digital effects were applied to the original image after the photograph was made. No electrons were harmed during the transition.
Image copyright 2024 Jon Burch Photography
Uploaded
November 19th, 2024
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