Granite Horns above Patagonian Lakes

Granite Horns above Patagonian Lakes is an original illustration set in Torres del Paine, Chilean Patagonia. It lies in mid-latitudes, where the climate is subpolar oceanic — cool summers, few frosts.

Three pale granite towers and the black-capped Cuernos rise beyond a turquoise Patagonian lake. Golden steppe grass bends in the foreground, low thorny shrubs hug the ground, and a long lenticular cloud streams eastward from the icy mountain skyline.

Why do pale granite towers rise above dark layered mountains and turquoise water?

A granitic intrusion cooled beneath older dark sedimentary rock before glaciers and rivers stripped away the surrounding mass. Hard pale granite survived as steep towers while remnants of the darker cap remain draped over adjacent horns. Strong westerly winds cross the open steppe and form smooth lee clouds over the range, linking the bent vegetation, sharp two-tone peaks and glacially colored water into a distinctly Patagonian scene.

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