Imagine
a world where the mountains are striped with candy colours and people
are dwarfed by the landscape’s immensity. Such a place exists in China’s
northwestern Gansu Province, where 24 million years of vibrant stone
and mineral deposits have created rainbow-striped mountains.
The tinted peaks were fashioned by uplift from the Earth’s tectonic
plates – the same ones that formed parts of the Himalayan range – while
rain, wind and erosion shaped them into the jagged world seen today.
Located around the city of Zhangye, the area covers more than 10sqkm and
the vista is most dazzling after a rainfall, when the colours glow even
brighter than usual. (Melinda Chan/Getty).
Oregon’s painted hills
With the hipster amenities of Portland to the west and the national wonder of Crater Lake to the south, eastern Oregon’s John Day Fossil Beds
often get overlooked. This 14,000 acre national park is a natural
museum of geological eras, though it is the Painted Hills region that
offers the most dramatic view. The spectacular landscape was shaped by
numerous volcanic eruptions and extreme climate change around 35 million
years ago. As time wore on, the lush vegetative climate turned more
arid.
Ash, clay, minerals and decaying plant matter all mixed into the
soil, leaving pronounced streaks of gold, black, red – even purple and
blue. The colours change according to the air’s moisture level, and are
said to be most vivid come late afternoon. (Purestock/Getty).
Ethiopia’s alien crater
In the language of the Afar people, Dallol means disintegrated. So it makes sense that Ethiopia’s Dallol Volcano
is less a volcano than a sunken crater. Caused by groundwater and magma
colliding, sulphur, iron oxide, salt and other minerals have created
the vivid greens and neon yellows that form one of the most remote,
untouched and ethereal natural rainbows in the world.
Dallol lies near the border of Eritrea in an area that was closed to
foreigners until 2001. Even today it is prudent to travel with an armed
guard, as border tensions persist and kidnappings have been known to
happen. Because of this, only a few hundred visitors make it to this
remarkable landscape every year – which is probably for the best
considering the fragility of the landform, the toxic gases and the
temperatures that average above 30C. (Thierry Hennet/Getty)
Wyoming’s ultimate spring
Yellowstone’s Grand Prismatic,
named for its brilliant colouration, is the largest hot spring in the
US – its 370ft diameter put into perspective by the paved walkway
visible near the photo’s top. The colour spectrum that ranges from deep
blue to burnt red is the product of trillions of thermophiles, or
bacterial microorganisms, which flourish in hot waters. Different
temperatures determine the hue, and the centre’s blue is the result of
extreme heat that leaves the bacteria sterile. Grand Prismatic is one of
many coloured springs in Yellowstone and draws millions of visitors
every year. (Werner Van Steen/Getty)
Light up the night in Iceland
The
Aurora Borealis appears in a complete spectrum of colours, from light
pinks, reds and greens to the yellows, blues and violets seen here on
Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula. The beams that dance against the night’s
sky are the result of particles colliding, sometimes resulting in
streams, ripples or arcs across the horizon. Despite a host of science
to explain how exactly these lights come to fruition, there is an alien
energy to the glow that makes this a mystery often better left
unexplained. (Arctic-Images/Getty)
source : BBCTRAVEL
