The color mountains

“Do you not see that Allah sends down rain from the sky, and We produce thereby fruits of varying colors? And in the mountains are tracts, white and red of varying shades and [some] extremely black”. Qur’an, Surat Fāţir, 35-27

The Zhangye Danxia National Geological Park, located near the city of Zhangye in China’s northwestern Gansu province, is known for its unusual colorful rock formations. The rocks are smooth, sharp and several hundred meters tall. They are the result of deposits of sandstone and other minerals that occurred over 24 million years.  The result, similar to a layer cake, is connected to the action of the same tectonic plates responsible for creating parts of the Himalayan Mountains. Wind, rain, and time then sculpted extraordinary shapes, including towers, pillars, and ravines, with varying colours, patterns, and sizes.

This post is available in: English Español