Rainbow Mountains Aka Zhangye Danxia Landform In Gansu, China

Zhangye Danxia Landform is colorful rock formations Geological Park in Gansu province, China. These rock formations is a unique type of petrographic geomorphology, which can be found only in China. Colored rocks consist of red sand stones and conglomerates of mostly Cretaceous period. Research shows that about 100 million years ago there was a huge indoor swimming pool. Water carried here from the surrounding mud. As a result, global high temperatures, the pool is dry and arid conditions of the oxidized pellet and took rust color. About 70 million years ago, the red layer of 3,700 m thickness was formed in the basin, known as the chalk bed. At the top was a solid layer 1,300 meters thick, the Cretaceous period, the system layer, from which the mountain peaks Danks gradually formed.

Since then, 30 million years ago, orogenic movement many times has changed the landscape pool. Water flowing down through cracks cut through and destroyed the sedimentary rocks carved slope, leaving behind fragmented red cliffs. Now we see nothing else like Danxia landforms. According to experts, the formation of mountains is still going on in the area, with an average increase of 0.87 meters every 10,000 years in the past 500,000 years. flickr/Thomas Mader

The area is fast becoming a popular tourist attraction for the sleepy town of Zhangye. Many boardwalks and roads were built to encourage visitors to explore the amazing rock formations and colored rocks. The World Heritage Committee decided to include in Zhangye colored rocks UNESCO World Heritage List at its 34th meeting, held in Brasilia, capital of Brazil.

flickr/Hoang Dang Vinh

flickr/Bobo0831 Zhang

flickr/PROSergio Lub

flickr/Tyler Warawa

flickr/Satoshi Naohara

flickr/Er Wong

flickr/Ray Tsang

flickr/Gusdianto

Source – en.wikipedia.org

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