Cuernos del Paine two-tone rocky peaks, golden light, Torres del Paine National Park, Patagonia, Chile

Rocking the two-tone look

Here in Chilean Patagonia, mountains like the Cuernos del Paine are often shrouded in mist. But the clouds cleared and the sun hit just right for the fortunate photographer who snapped this shot, offering us a peek at these peaks' unique geology.Ancient glaciers stripped much of this mountain chain to its granite bones. You can see this granite exposed in the broad, light-colored stripe across the base of the Cuernos ('horns'). But the glaciers spared the peaks' caps, leaving dark patches of sedimentary rock. Geologists call this feature a 'roof pendant'—we call it the crown on a majestic massif.