Malpaís, in the Southwestern United States,

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, and other Spanish-speaking regions, are rough and barren landscapes that consist of relict and largely uneroded lava fields exhibiting recognizable lava flows,

volcanic cone Volcanic cones are among the simplest volcanic landforms. They are built by ejecta from a volcanic vent, piling up around the vent in the shape of a cone with a central crater. Volcanic cones are of different types, depending upon the nature and ...

s, and other

volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...

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. While the term describes many

xeric Deserts and xeric shrublands are a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Deserts and xeric (ancient Greek xērós, “dry") shrublands form the largest terrestrial biome, covering 19% of Earth's land surface area. Ecoregions in this h ...

places, it is strongly associated with Spanish-speaking countries and the Southwestern United States, where Spanish settlers named this landform.Strahler, A. N., 1970, ''Introduction to Physical Geography'', 2nd ed. John Wiley and Sopns. New York, New York. 486 pp. Neuendorf, K.K.E., J.P. Mehl, Jr., and J.A. Jackson, eds. (2005) ''Glossary of Geology'' (5th ed.). Alexandria, Virginia, American Geological Institute. 779 pp.

Badlands landform

The word 'malpaís' in Spanish translates to "

badland Badlands are a type of dry terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils have been extensively eroded."Badlands" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 47. They are characterized by steep slopes, m ...

," and this describes the area as being extremely rough and difficult to traverse and unusable for crops. Although a malpaís is often another word for the badlands that form by erosion of sedimentary rocks in the same environment, a malpaís is often associated with such types of

lava plain Lava fields are large, mostly flat areas of surface or subaquatic lava flows. Such features are generally composed of highly fluid basalt lava, and can extend for tens or hundreds of miles across the underlying terrain. Morphology and stru ...

terrain as found in a volcanic field. The geology of malpaís terrain is bare to thin layers of soil over lava with sparse vegetation. The lava fields usually consist of lava tube systems,

sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are locally also known as ''vrtače'' and shakeholes, and to openi ...

s, pyroclastic deposits from cinder cone volcanoes, and

ʻaʻā Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or und ...

and

pāhoehoe Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or un ...

lava flows. The lava tubes can vary from intact caves to partial or completely collapsed passages. The collapsed tubes, sinkholes, and jagged ʻaʻā surfaces are what make malpaís terrain so difficult to navigate and cultivate, thereby earning their name.

Examples

El Malpaís National Monument is an example of this landform in

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

. Other examples are the Carrizozo Malpaís, Potrillo Malpaís and Jornada del Muerto Volcano lava plain, in the Jornada del Muerto Desert. The Malpaís de Güímar is an example in the Spanish Canary Islands.

Etymology

loanword A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because t ...

from

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

, malpaís is in wide use in English in the

southwest United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorad ...

. The literal translation of ''malpaís'' is "badland." Other Spanish terms for badlands are '' tierras baldías'' and '' cárcava''.

References

Volcanic landforms Lava fields {{geo-term-stub