Vinicunca Rainbow Mountain

Vinicunca, popularly known as Rainbow Mountain, is a peak in the Andes of the Cusco region of Peru, at an elevation above 5,000 meters, whose slopes display striking bands of red, yellow, green and lavender rock. The coloration comes from differing mineral content in successive layers of sedimentary rock exposed by the tectonic uplift of the Andes: iron oxides produce the reddish bands, sulfur-bearing minerals contribute yellow tones, and minerals such as chlorite contribute green. The banded rock is thought to have become visible to hikers only in recent decades, as retreating glacial ice and snow exposed a slope that had long been covered, and the site has become a major hiking destination since gaining wide public attention in the mid-2010s.