Shizhu forest in Guizi Mountain

About 10 million years ago, there were frequent volcanic activities in Liuhe, Tianchang and Xuyi areas. A large number of basaltic magma gushed out of the surface and formed volcanic rocks. Shizhu forest was developed in basalt.

A large number of stele forests have been found in Liuhe Guizi Mountain, Babaiqiao Matou Mountain, Guabu Guishan mountain and other places, among which Guizi Mountain is the most magnificent and straight.

The Shizhu forest in Guizi Mountain covers an area of 15 hectares. The steep wall is more than 30 meters high. It is composed of stone trees with a diameter of about 0.5 meters. They are arranged neatly and closely. The scenery is magnificent and spectacular. Foreign geologists highly praised Liuhe stone pillar forest as more spectacular than the world-famous Yellowstone Park in the United States, richer than Icelandic volcanoes, and more beautiful than Irish stone pillars!

The diameter of each stone pillar in Guizi Mountain is about 40 cm-60 cm, and the height is 20 M-30 M. the cross section is regular or irregular hexagon, Pentagon, etc. the root is straight and straight, and the arrangement is dense and neat. It is a very spectacular place for geological tourism.

Transportation: take a long-distance bus to Liuhe District at Hanzhongmen long-distance passenger station, and then transfer to Yeshan.

Shizhu forest in Guizi Mountain

Guizishan stone pillar forest is located in guizishan, Liuhe District, Nanjing city. It is one of the 18 sceneries of Liuhe and the new eight sceneries of Liuhe, 39 kilometers away from Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge.

Guizi Mountain, with an area of 0.2 square kilometers and a height of 52.6 meters, is basalt on the east side, and the stone pillar forest is developed in basalt. It covers an area of 15 hectares. The steep wall is more than 30 meters high. It is composed of stone trees with a diameter of about 0.5 meters. They are arranged neatly and closely. They are magnificent and the scenery is fantastic. They are just like uncanny workmanship.

Geology and geomorphology

Stone pillar forest is located in the eastern part of jinniuhu street, Liuhe District, Nanjing city. Due to the needs of China's development in the 20th century, most of the stone materials in the mine were exploited. The stone materials produced in the site are excellent building materials, which are sold well all over China. In this case, a large area of stone pillar forest was developed and protected by the relevant departments Mining has stopped, although years of wind and rain, but the majestic wind is not bad Guilin Shilin.

The so-called stone pillar forest is composed of stone pillar groups with regular hexagon and Pentagon. The stone pillars, each about 40-60 cm in diameter and 20-30 m in height, are closely arranged and perpendicular to the rock layer, forming a half wall stone forest, which is magnificent. Its regularity, individual size and overall scale are rare in China, and can be compared with the basalt columns in Yellowstone Park, Northern Ireland and Iceland.

Cause of formation

According to the research, this is about 20-9 million years (geological age belongs to Neogene), the volcanic eruption, basaltic magma spilled over the surface, followed by uniform cooling and slow shrinkage and cracking of the column, geologically known as "columnar joint".

Guabu mountain is a shield volcano that erupted about 12 million years ago. Many years of quarrying revealed that the neck of the mountain and the surrounding lava are part of the broken rocks. The mountain here is composed of polygonal pillars, which are left by volcanic eruption and magma flow cooling. The lava pillars are called columnar joints in geology. The pillars are fan-shaped from top to bottom, while the black rock on the top of the mountain is the cinder retained in the volcanic passage. The combination of the two is like a lion sculpted by nature. The pillars on the east side are arranged vertically and radially. This kind of geological landscape is rare, comparable to the famous lava pillars in the world. It is a natural record for studying the magma flow of ancient volcanoes, and it is also a symbol of the Qing Dynasty The natural classroom of popular science education for teenagers.

Geological characteristics

The rocks of Fangshan and the stone pillar forest of guizishan in Liuhe belong to the same age, that is, the late Tertiary basalt, below which is the Yuhuatai gravel layer. The appearance of lookout Fangshan is truncated conical shape, which is the typical landform of basalt ancient crater. Liuhefangshan covers an area of about 2 square kilometers, with a top height of 188 meters and a specific height of 150 meters.

The outer diameter of the mountain is 1300-1600 meters (long from north to South and narrow from east to West). The top of the mountain is gentle, and the inner part is sunken. The four sunken places are where the crater is located. The outer diameter of the crater is about 600 meters, the diameter of the bottom is 200 meters, and the collapse depth is 80 meters. The lava towering around the crater is a crater wall composed of basalt scarps. There is a gap in the north. Therefore, from the East, South and West, it is Pingdingshan, and from the plane, it is a horseshoe shaped volcanic cone. The well-preserved and well-developed crater structure of Fangshan and the stone pillar forest of guizishan constitute a unique volcanic relic, which has attracted geoscience lovers from all over the country to visit.

Value significance

After foreign geological experts' investigation, they highly praised Liuhe stone pillar forest as more spectacular than Yellowstone Park in the United States, richer than Icelandic volcanoes, and more beautiful than Irish stone pillars. Among the 4000 km long Cenozoic volcanic activities in China, the Liuhe Volcanic Group is the only well-developed shizhushan group. Its height, scale and ornamental value are higher than those of the shizhushan forest mentioned above. It is the site of the 30th International Geological Congress.

Address: guizishan scenic spot, Yeshan Town, Liutai District, Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province

Longitude: 118.93271

Latitude: 32.47337

Ticket information: 12 RMB

Chinese PinYin : Gui Zi Shan Shi Zhu Lin