Painted Desert

Earth displays its color range at numerous sites, from geological formations to human-built environments. The selection includes locations on six continents, where natural processes or cultural traditions have resulted in prominent visual displays. The Danxia mountains in China's Gansu province show layered sedimentary rock formations in reds, oranges and yellows, while Arizona's Painted Desert derives its colors from iron oxides and other minerals. Yellowstone's Grand Prismatic Spring owes its concentric bands of color to heat-loving bacteria that thrive in different temperature zones of the water. The Great Blue Hole off the coast of Belize reaches a depth of 407 feet (124 meters), providing a deep blue contrast to the surrounding turquoise shallows. Various communities have marked their built environment with distinctive color palettes. Chefchaouen in Morocco's Rif Mountains displays blue walls throughout its medina. Jodhpur in Rajasthan uses blue paint that originally marked Brahmin residences. Cape Town's Bo-Kaap presents houses in yellows, pinks, greens and blues, while Buenos Aires' La Boca neighborhood has corrugated metal facades in bright colors. Copenhagen's Nyhavn shows 17th and 18th century townhouses along the canal in reds, oranges, yellows and other hues. Scarborough's beach huts on the English coast offer a smaller scale of residential color. Water features contribute to the variety. China's Jiuzhaigou lakes display blues and greens due to calcium carbonate and algae. Tanzania's Lake Natron turns red to pink because of microorganisms living in its alkaline water. Pena Palace on a hilltop near Sintra, Portugal, combines yellow and red facades. Copacabana on Bolivia's Lake Titicaca offers whitewashed buildings with colorful accents. Hitsujiyama Park in Chichibu presents fields of phlox in pinks, whites and purples, while Kitakyushu's Kawachi Fuji Gardens feature wisteria tunnels. Even Longyearbyen on Svalbard displays colored wooden houses against Arctic landscapes.

The southwestern United States encompasses desert landscapes, sandstone formations and archaeological sites from several pre-Columbian cultures. The region spans Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado, featuring geological structures shaped over millions of years by wind and water erosion. National parks such as Canyonlands and Capitol Reef display canyons, mesas and rock spires in shades of red, orange and ochre. The area preserves evidence of the Ancestral Puebloans, who built cliff dwellings and communal structures between the 12th and 14th centuries. Sites like Bandelier National Monument and Gila Cliff Dwellings provide access to these habitations. Chaco Culture National Historical Park documents a pre-Hispanic trading center with multistory stone complexes. Petroglyphs at locations such as Three Rivers and the petrified trees of Petrified Forest National Park offer additional historical records. The Navajo Nation administers Monument Valley and the Navajo Zoo, while Hubbell Trading Post operates as a functioning 19th-century trading post. Volcanic features mark Sunset Crater and El Malpais, while White Sands covers more than 275 square miles (700 square kilometers) of gypsum dunes. Glen Canyon and the man-made Lake Cochiti provide water access in this largely arid region. Elevation differences range from the Organ Pipe Cactus Desert to Great Basin National Park with its ridges above 13,000 feet (3,900 meters).