Sunrise Effect on mountains

Question

Taking picture of the sunrise.. What is the effect called that the sunrise has on sections of the mountain range to disappear.

Answer 1

It's not exactly clear from the image you posted, but it sounds like this is a type of mirage called a Fata Morgana.

Fata Morgana mirages are complex mirages that often have multiple image reflections, distorting the landscape at the horizon. This multiple-layering often creates shimmering "pillars", as seen in your image.

The reason that sections of the mountains seem to be "erased" is that inferior mirages (mirage images reflected below the real image) are being seen as if they were "in front of" or erasing the actual background. In the case of Fata Morgana, there can be several inferior mirages, and superior reflections of those inferior mirages (creating the stacked mirages).