The Putangirua Pinnacles -also known colloquially simply as The Pinnacles- as a geological formation are one of New Zealand's best examples of "badlands

Badlands

A badlands is a type of dry terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils have been extensively eroded by wind and water. It can resemble malpaís, a terrain of volcanic rock. Canyons, ravines, gullies, hoodoos and other such geological forms are common in badlands. They are often...

 erosion

Erosion

Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...

" and consist of a large number of earth pillars or Hoodoo

Hoodoo (geology)

A hoodoo is a tall, thin spire of rock that protrudes from the bottom of an arid drainage basin or badland. Hoodoos consist of relatively soft rock topped by harder, less easily eroded stone that protects each column from the elements...

s located at the head of a valley in the Aorangi Range

Aorangi Range

The Aorangi Range in south eastern Wairarapa is the southernmost mountain range in the North Island and extends more than 20 kilometres north from Cape Palliser...

s. 7 to 9 million years ago when sea levels were much higher, the Aorangi ranges were an island and as this landmass was eroded over time, large alluvial fan

Alluvial fan

An alluvial fan is a fan-shaped deposit formed where a fast flowing stream flattens, slows, and spreads typically at the exit of a canyon onto a flatter plain. A convergence of neighboring alluvial fans into a single apron of deposits against a slope is called a bajada, or compound alluvial...

s formed on its southern shores. Within a few million years however, sea levels rose again and this island was submerged also. Since the Ice age

Ice age

An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...

s, sea levels have receded and the old alluvial fans have been exposed to the erosive forces of wind and water, which have weathered away the conglomerate

Conglomerate (geology)

A conglomerate is a rock consisting of individual clasts within a finer-grained matrix that have become cemented together. Conglomerates are sedimentary rocks consisting of rounded fragments and are thus differentiated from breccias, which consist of angular clasts...

. In some places this conglomerate is protected from erosion above by a cap of cemented silt or rock, resulting in the formation of spectacular Pinnacles, many of which have prominent fluting caused by rainwater running down their sides during major storms. It is not known exactly how long the pinnacles have been forming but they are thought to be less than 125,000 years old with major erosion probably beginning 7000 years ago and accelerating in the last 1000 years with the deforestation of the area.

Part of the Paths of the Dead

Paths of the Dead

In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the Paths of the Dead were a haunted passage under the White Mountains.The Paths of the Dead started at the Dark Door at the end of the long valley of Harrowdale, beyond the Firienfeld and the forest of Dimholt, wedged in between the mountains Irensaga ,...

 sequence in the film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a 2003 epic fantasy-drama film directed by Peter Jackson that is based on the second and third volumes of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings...

was filmed on location here, as was the opening sequence of Braindead.