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On April 22, 2023, the Science Popularization China Starry Sky Forum, with the theme of "Cherish the Earth and Share Beauty Together", invited 5 scientists from related fields to talk about the knowledge of the earth and nature from the perspectives of geology, geography, geophysics, and astronomy.

Su Dechen, researcher at the Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences and chief scientific communication expert on natural resources, gave a speech: "The Wonders of Nature: The Beauty of Geology"

The following is an excerpt from Su Dechen’s speech:

Beauty is all-encompassing, covering all aspects, including the beauty of music, animals, plants, dance, sports, mountains and rivers... In recent years, there is a new concept called "geological beauty."

01

What is the beauty of geology?

Geology is a science about the earth. It studies the material composition, structural structure, and formation history of the earth.

The Earth has a history of 4.6 billion years since its formation. During this long period of 4.6 billion years, the Earth has experienced countless mountain-building movements. Nature has carved and shaped the surface of the earth into various beautiful landscapes.

Photo courtesy: Su Dechen

From a geological perspective, from the big things like towering mountains, rushing rivers, vast oceans, endless deserts and Gobi to the small things like grains of sand, stones, grass and trees, all are involved in the "beauty of geology" . In other words, mountains, water, forests, fields, lakes, grass and sand are all inextricably linked to the "beauty of geology".

02

The formation and naming of "Danxia landform"

Photo courtesy: Su Dechen

The picture above is Danxia Mountain in Shaoguan City, Guangdong.

It was a large lake in the dinosaur era. The surrounding mountains were uplifted, with granite, limestone, etc. Under the action of water erosion, a lot of silt gathered in the Danxia ancient lake. Later, affected by the collision of the Indian Plate and the Eurasian Plate, these silts formed rocks, which rose to become land in the late Cretaceous and Tertiary periods. During the uplift, criss-crossing cracks were formed. Water eroded downward along these cracks, forming this very beautiful Danxia landform with "red cliffs of Chibi" as the main feature.

Physalis Peak. Photo provided by Su Dechen

The thing in the picture that looks like a monk's hat is called Monk's Hat Peak .

The mountain below it is the traditional Danxia Mountain. In the past, Danxia Mountain was the name of a mountain. Later, this place was developed into a scenic spot. The entire scenic spot is called Danxia Mountain, which is full of red cliffs. In a total area of ​​less than 300 square kilometers, there are 680 stone peaks, stone pillars, and stone walls of varying sizes.

The mountain in the picture below was originally named the Danxia layer in the Danxia landform.

Photo courtesy: Su Dechen

In 1928, Chinese scientist Feng Jinglan investigated this place and named the red sandstone and conglomerate that formed the Danxia landform "Danxia layer". In 1938, scientist Chen Guo named the particularly beautiful landform formed by the Danxia layer "Danxia topography".

The word "landform" did not exist at that time. The word "landform" was created by Chinese scientists in 1950. It was previously called topography.

The author of the poem in the picture is Zeng Zhaoxuan, who studies Danxia landform.

The boat is accompanied by dangerous cliffs on both sides.

Rice, firewood, vegetables and fruits for mountain travel.

The mountains on all sides of Jinjiang River are like brocade.

The sun sets over the high peaks.

Zeng Zhaoxuan is not only a great geologist and geographer, he is also a poet, writer and athlete.

If we visit the Danxia landform, many concepts will change, such as the mountain in the picture below.

Photo courtesy: Su Dechen

Many geography textbooks and encyclopedias define "mountain" as "above 500 meters above sea level" or "how much height difference there is". Later, it was found that this definition was incomplete . This is an example of denying it.

The mountain is only about 200 meters high, but it is a mountain nonetheless and is very difficult to climb.

Su Dongpo wrote in his poem about Mount Lu: "When viewed from the side, it is a ridge; when viewed from the front, it is a peak; it looks different from all distances and heights. I cannot recognize the true appearance of Mount Lu because I am already in it." The situation of Mount Danxia is similar.

Photo courtesy: Su Dechen

The picture above shows a very majestic mountain, but if you look at it from the side, it is just a wall, a wall, now called a stone wall. If you look at it from the other side, it looks like an elephant's trunk, with a baby elephant next to it (below).

If you look at the same mountain from different directions and positions, it may look completely different.

Photo courtesy: Su Dechen

The picture below shows the shape of a mountain while riding a boat on Jinjiang River. This is the "world's largest teapot", Teapot Peak .

Photo courtesy: Su Dechen

If you look at it closer, you will find that it is a landform composed of stone pillars one by one. These different groups of stone pillars form a shape like a big teapot.

Photo courtesy: Su Dechen

The landscape of stacked layers of red stones in the picture is called "alternating red sandstone and conglomerate" in geography. Coupled with the steep cliffs on both sides, it is called "Chibi Red Cliff".

It is because the flowing water erodes downwards. When the erosion reaches a certain extent, it collapses under the action of gravity, forming particularly beautiful cliffs. This is the most important feature of the Danxia landform.

Photo courtesy: Su Dechen

03

The difference between "Danxia landform" and Zhangjiajie "peak forest"

Another point to note is that the Danxia landform is located in an inland basin that was formed during the dinosaur era, which is different from the peak forests in Zhangjiajie.

Zhangjiajie has a large number of cliffs and peaks, but why is it called "Zhangjiajie landform" instead of "Danxia landform"? It is because the rocks in Zhangjiajie were formed in the primitive ocean of the "Devonian" more than 400 million years ago . Later, after rain erosion and rock cracking, thousands of particularly beautiful stone pillars were formed. It is not exactly the same as Danxia landform. Danxia landform is formed by red layers in a terrestrial environment, while Zhangjiajie is a marine environment.

Zhangjiajie Peaks and Forests. Copyrighted images from the photo library, no permission to reprint

When we appreciate the beauty of nature in our daily lives, we must not only know its beauty, but also why it is beautiful. This is the "beauty of geology."

The discovery, research and promotion of Danxia landforms are inseparable from the important contributions of scientists:

From Feng Jinglan proposing the Danxia layer and Chen Guoda proposing the Danxia landform, to several scientists, especially Huang Jin and Peng Hua expanding the Danxia landform and promoting it to the world, people's understanding of the Danxia landform has become increasingly popular.

Photo courtesy: Su Dechen

There are now more than 1,200 Danxia landform scenic spots, but the classic definition of Danxia landform and the original birthplace of Danxia landform are in Danxia Mountain in Guangdong.