Rainbow Mountains

Peru’s Rainbow Mountains, or Vinicunca, owe their striking coloration to layered sedimentary rock deposits formed during the Mesozoic era, when the region was a seabed accumulating minerals from weathered rock and volcanic activity.

Over millions of years, tectonic uplift from the Andes orogeny exposed these strata, which were then oxidized, producing vivid hues: red layers from iron oxide rusting, green from chlorite, yellow from iron sulfide, and white from quartz-rich sandstone.

The mountain’s banded appearance reflects rhythmic deposition cycles tied to ancient environmental changes, while glacial retreat during the Holocene revealed and sharpened its vivid patterns.

This makes Vinicunca not only a geological spectacle but also a timeline of Andean geological evolution encoded in color.