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This excellent answer addresses the amazing 3D structures shown in the image below:

The terrain examples show some striking similarities to what is referred to in the United States as "Badlands" - a type of terrain formed by layered sedimentary strata of rock that is soft enough to be eroded by wind and water into recognizably similar features. For example, here is South Dakota Badlands National Park:

I believe that in the past Mars had plenty of wind and water. So I'd like to ask:

Question: Does Mars have badlands?

"bonus points" for an MRO or other photo of a place on Mars similar to the one above. Fyi a top-down view (31.5298N, 79.7242E) of this area on Earth looks like this:

札达土林 in Tibet

Screenshot from the Chinese language video 航拍西藏 2018 (Aerial photography in Tibet) from the question What produces these amazing 3D structures in Tibet?

札达土林 in Tibet

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    $\begingroup$ No time to answer: altamontenterprise.com/opinion/columns/back-roads-geology/… $\endgroup$
    – called2voyage ♦
    May 9, 2019 at 20:42
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    $\begingroup$ @called2voyage learned a new word there: hoodoo. It's an interesting read, thanks! $\endgroup$
    – uhoh
    May 10, 2019 at 0:03
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    $\begingroup$ @called2voyage those cloud formation similarities were my favorite part, "Cirrus clouds made of ice crystals waft high in the atmosphere above the Bisti wilderness. Similar clouds have been photographed on Mars by the Curiosity rover." That's so cool! Reminds me of lenticular clouds being formed by volcanoes, mountains or basins. Thanks for the link! $\endgroup$
    – Magic Octopus Urn
    May 13, 2019 at 20:30
  • $\begingroup$ @MagicOctopusUrn See the numerous answers and comments at What is this spaceship-shaped cloud? $\endgroup$
    – uhoh
    May 13, 2019 at 23:54
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    $\begingroup$ To answer your question i would like to know if the image of Gale crater in the link of the comment @called2voyage meets your requirements, like layered sediments, the height of the features, the distances between them, etc. ? $\endgroup$
    – Cornelis
    Apr 16, 2020 at 14:22

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The Altamont Enterprise site given by called2voyage and repeated here gives a pretty impressive comparison. Perhaps we should not be so surprised that a small, rocky planet that's relatively close to the Sun and had known water and atmospheric weather would have land features similar to our own small, rocky planet that's relatively close to the Sun.

Looking more broadly, such similarities may be used to identify models of the Martian landscape on Earth. This site from livescience.com lists several such areas that have attracted the attention of planetary scientists, in this case generally emphasizing dryness and usually cold more than topography. The well-known Atacama Desert tops the list, but if you read through you find models from one pole to the other (or at least, as close as possible to that range). A major attraction of these models is that they can be used to dry-run (no pun intended) the search for Martian life before leaving Earth.

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    $\begingroup$ Another nice answer, thank you! $\endgroup$
    – uhoh
    May 10, 2019 at 2:08
  • $\begingroup$ fyi I've added an "offer" of fictitious bonus points for a view of a similar badlands area on Mars. I'm not sure one exists, but it would be interesting to see how close of a match is out there. $\endgroup$
    – uhoh
    May 10, 2019 at 2:14
  • $\begingroup$ @uhoh google.com/mars :)? Looks like the poles might be candidates! $\endgroup$
    – Magic Octopus Urn
    May 13, 2019 at 20:31
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The formation of badlands is a result of two processes: deposition and erosion.

Badlands in Arabia Terra

Part of HiRISE PSP_001902_1890, NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

The image above shows stair-stepped hills on the floor of a crater named Sera in Arabia Terra.
Surely these hills are eroded layered sediments, so this region could be named "badlands".

Although some of these hills seem to look more like cultivated land than badlands.

The image below was captured by Curiosity on sol 2741.

sol 2741

Click on the images for enlargement.

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