Bisti is derived from the Navajo word Bistahi which means “among the adobe formations.”
De-Na-Zin takes its name from another Navajo word for “cranes.”
When the water disappeared totally, it left behind layers of jumbled sandstone, mudstone, shale and coal.
Much of the coal burned away in ancient fires that lasted centuries.
Erosion then shaped the characteristic features of the modern landscape of the Bisti Wilderness.
The Ojo Alamo Formation spans the Mesozoic/Cenozoic boundary, and mostly contain dinosaur fossils.
The Fruitland Formation is found primarily on the western side of the Wilderness.
It overlies the Fruitland Formation, and is exposed on the eastern side of the badlands.
Many of the gray hoodoos in the wilderness are made up of this formation.
The unique egg-shaped formation, in the egg factory area, are also the result of erosion.
Photo credit:Larry Lamsa/Flickr
Photo credit:Bureau of Land Management/Flickr
Photo credit:Thomas Shahan/Flickr
Sources:Wikipedia/Smithsonian
