Monday, January 2, 2012

Purmamarca - Argentina

This card from Argentina, sent by Nicole, is another great Unesco acquisition for my collection. The card shows the Cerro de los Siete Colores, Seven Colours Hill, in Purmamarca, part of the Quebrada de Humahuaca, on the Unesco World Heritage List, for its cultural and historical and its stunning scenery, since 2003.

The word “quebrada” means deep valley or ravine. It’s famous for its multi-coloured mountains: each colour is the result of a different layer of sediments deposited over the last 600 million years. Successive tectonic plate movements gave them the shapes we see today.

One of the most important geomorphologic unit in Jujuy is EL Cerro de los siete Colores, located in Purmamarca. (The Seven Colours Hill) The Seven Colours Hill The multi-coulored sediments from the Mesozoic have been folded and eroded into strange shapes on this hill. Colour 1: light orange; composed with red clay, mud and sand; Age: 3 - 4 million years. Colour 2: white, composed with lime rock. Age: 400 million years. Colour 3: brown, purple and violet. The violet is composed with lead and the others are rich in calcium. Age: 80 – 90 million years. Colour 4: red, composed with clay & iron. Age: 3 – 4 million years. Colour 5: Green, composed with copper oxide. Colour 6: brown, composed by rock with manganese. Age: 1 – 2 million years. Colour 7: Yellow, composed with brimstone. Age: 80 – 90 million years. - http://www.quebradadehumahuaca.com/en

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