Altyn-Emel moonscape, Kazakhstan

View of the lunar landscape of the Aktau Mountains in Altyn-Emel National Park, southeast Kazakhstan. The rainbow of white, yellow and red strata represent Eocene to Oligocene continental sandstones, clays and gypsum units which preserve an impressive assemblage of fossil fauna including mammals, turtles and crocodiles. The present-day landscape is a sandy and rocky desert and steppe, each with characteristic biological communities and ecosystems. The national park hosts great numbers of rare and endangered plant and animal species, many endemic, and many of which are recorded in the Red List of the Republic of Kazakhstan.