WHEN you think of majestic mountains in and out of Malaysia, you would imagine them being either grey or brown. Or perhaps even green with trees or white as they are covered with snow.
But could you imagine one with bright, vibrant colours of the rainbow? Are these mountains real or merely a sneaky photoshop done by Internet trolls?
VERDICT:
TRUE
Yes, there are rainbow mountains in several parts of the world, and the colours these mountains have are a natural occurrence.
Some of the popular rainbow mountains are located in the Zhangye Danxia Landform Geological Park in the Gansu province of China.
While the mountains look like a page out of a colouring book, the colouration is a natural phenomenon.
These striations happened as a result of centuries of tectonic shifts, climatic conditions, and the erosion of red terrigenous sedimentary beds.
Over the years, the sandstone and minerals would layer atop each other as the tectonic plates shift, creating angled painted layers across the rock formation and sandstone rolling hills.
In addition to that, rain, wind, and time would further sculpt the rock formations into what they are today.
The site, which covers over 500 square kilometres, was named a Unesco World Heritage Site in 2009.
Aside from these mountains, there are other colourful formations elsewhere.
One of these locations is the Vinicunca Mountain in Peru. Also known as la Montaña de Siete Colores or the seven-coloured mountain, this landmark has colourful stripes made up of layers of 14 different minerals.
Another location would be the Landmannalaugar Mountain in Iceland - and one would be able to see this Icelandic national wonder after completing a four-day hike through the Fjallabak Nature Reserve.
If you want to visit somewhere that pops out of a page of a fairy tale, perhaps these are some of the locations you can consider travelling in the future.
Source:
https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/rainbow-mountains-china
https://thepointsguy.com/2018/02/check-out-some-of-the-worlds-most-epic-wonders-rainbow-mountains/
https://telanganatoday.com/rainbow-mountains-of-china-a-geological-wonder-of-the-world
