RAINBOW MOUNTAINS

At the Zhangye Danxia Landform Geological Park in Gansu, China, tourists flock to see China's own version of the Grand Canyon: A mountain range of densely packed layers of minerals and rock that are dramatically striated into a layer cake of magenta, maroon, and lemon-colored stone. 

Rainbow mountains are extremely beautiful. It is unique, with many gorgeous colour they have. I want to go there because it seems so interesting. I've never seen any of mountains whose colour is rainbow like this.

So how is it formed ? it was formed by the erosion of red sandstone, forming isolated peaks and sterp stratified outcrops. Its special geological structure, combined with long-term desert conditions, freeze-thaw peeling and wind, and water erosion gave rise to its present appereance. 

The Rainbow Mountains are cretaceous sandstones and siltstones that were deposited in China before the Himalayan Mountains were formed. The sand and silt was deposited with iron and trace minerals that provided it with the key ingredient to form the colors we see today.

What was once a layered horizontal and flat stratigraphy was disrupted by the Indian Plate colliding into the Eurasian plate approximately 55 million years ago. Much like when two cars get in a wreck and the bumpers fold and break, a similar process folded what was once flat sandstones into the Rainbow Mountains we see today. This process uplifted mountains and exposed sedimentary rocks that were otherwise hidden well below the surface of the earth. Weathering and erosion removed the overlying layers of continental siliciclastic rocks and exposed underlying formations with different mineralogy and chemistry. This causes the striking variation in colors seen across the Rainbow Mountains.

Geologist believe that rainbow mountains topography is formed by folding of layered oceanic crust. Exposed slanting rock layers have different colours, textures, shapes,  sizes, and patterns. The combination of differences is density and erosion create towering peaks, cave holes, and stone halls.

I hope i can go there anytime soon !!! 

sources : https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5qnu8XrgpJA/maxresdefault.jpg

        http://www.chinahighlights.com/zhangye/attraction/danxia-landform-geological-park.htm