Badlands Guardian

The Badlands Guardian is a geomorphological feature located near Medicine Hat in the southeast corner of Alberta, Canada. Viewed from the air, the feature has been said to resemble a human head wearing a full Indigenous type of headdress, facing directly westward. Additional man-made structures have been said to resemble a pair of earphones worn by the figure.[1][2] The apparent earphones are a road and an oil well, which were installed recently and are expected to disappear once the project is abandoned.[3] Its scale is much larger than the figures of Mount Rushmore.[2]

"Woman's Head" redirects here. For the sculpture in the ancient city of Ulpiana, see Ulpiana § Woman’s head.

The head is a drainage feature created through erosion of soft, clay-rich soil by the action of wind and water.[1][4] The arid badlands are typified by infrequent but intense rain-showers, sparse vegetation and soft sediments. The 'head' may have been created during a short period of fast erosion immediately following intense rainfall. Although the image appears to be a convex feature, it is actually concave – that is, a valley,[5][6] which is formed by erosion on a stratum of clay,[6] and is an instance of the Hollow-Face illusion. Its age is estimated to be in the hundreds of years at a minimum.[3]

The feature was discovered in 2005 by Lynn Hickox on Google Earth.[7]

In 2006 suitable names were canvassed by CBC Radio One program As It Happens. Out of 50 names submitted, seven were suggested to the Cypress County Council. They altered the suggested 'Guardian of the Badlands' to become Badlands Guardian.[4]

The Badlands Guardian was also described by the Sydney Morning Herald as a "net sensation".[1] PCWorld magazine has referred to the formation as a "geological marvel".[8] The Guardian was also covered by Canada's Global Television.[3] It is listed as the seventh of the top ten Google Earth finds by Time Magazine.[6]

See also

References
  1. Sydney Morning Herald Article by Stephen Hutcheon: "Gran's canyon is a net sensation" November 13, 2006
  2. Randall Stross (23 September 2008). Planet Google: One Company's Audacious Plan to Organize Everything We Know. Free Press. pp. 142. ISBN 978-1-4165-8047-8. Retrieved 6 September 2013. The Badlands Guardian, for example, a natural geologic formation near Alberta, Canada, was often visited by online aviators. It resembles a human head, wearing Native American headdress—and also appears to be naturally adorned with ...
  3. "The Badlands Guardian". Global TV. Archived from the original on March 28, 2014.
  4. CBC Radio: As It Happens "Alberta's Aztec Rocker?" (Includes taped interview with geology professor Dr. Froese)
  5. As It Happens 3D rendering by CBC Radio
  6. Dan Fletcher. "Top 10 Google Earth Finds: A Face in the Clay". Time Magazine.
  7. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/atlas-obscura-alberta-badlands-guardian-1.3774772
  8. PCWorld In Pictures: The Strangest Sights in Google Earth PC World Staff July 9, 2007 1:00 am

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