Datong Volcano Group

Datong Volcanic Group is one of the Quaternary volcanic groups in China, which stopped erupting about 60000 years ago. At present, there are more than 30 known volcanic groups, which are mainly distributed in the east of Datong Basin. According to the location, they are divided into four regions: East, West, South and North. Among them, the West volcano in the northeast of Datong County is the most dense and spectacular part of the volcanic cone landscape. Most of them are between 1100 meters and 1400 meters above sea level, probably because of the flat and broad valley landform. These volcanic cones stand out like ghosts in the ground one by one, showing a kind of power and mystery. The most famous ones are Jinshan, Heishan, Langwo mountain, Gelao mountain, Shuangshan, MATI mountain, Laohu mountain and haotiansi mountain. At present, there are more than 30 known blocks, mainly distributed in the east of Datong Basin, which can be divided into four areas: East, West, South and North. The eastern district is in the area of Xubao and Shenquan temple. Western zhizhaoyuan and xipingbei areas. The Southern District is to the south of Sanggan River. The North District is the mountain to the north of Datong City.

Datong Volcano Group

Datong Volcanic Group is a famous Quaternary Volcanic Group in China. It is known that there are more than 30, distributed in Yunzhou district and Yanggao County of Datong City, Shanxi Province, concentrated in four areas: the east area of zhiguayuan and Shenquan temple, and six such as xiaojiayaotou and goose bumps. The shield shaped xiaojiayaotou volcano is composed of volcanic bomb, volcanic gravel and volcanic ash, partially covered by lava flow; the dome shaped goose bumps volcano is composed of basalt, without crater.

brief introduction

Datong Volcanic Group is one of the Quaternary volcanic groups in China. There are more than 30 known ones, mainly distributed in the eastern part of Datong Basin, which can be divided into four areas: East, West, South and North. The eastern district is in the area of Xubao and Shenquan temple. Western zhizhaoyuan and xipingbei areas. The Southern District is to the south of Sanggan River. The North District is the mountain to the north of Datong City. According to the external morphological characteristics of volcanoes, they can be divided into four types: one is dome shaped, composed of basalt, without crater, such as Gushan and Emei keloids. The second is shell like, composed of basalt, such as xiaojiayaotou volcano and Daxinzhuang volcano. The third is semicircular, which is formed by volcanic eruptions flowing along the mountain slope. The fourth is horseshoe shaped, which is composed of basalt flow and pyroclastic interbedding. After the formation of the volcano, the flowing water cuts through the crater like horseshoe, such as dongpingshan and Jinshan. In addition to the horseshoe shaped volcano which has been cut through by gullies, there are only narrow and shallow gullies around the cone, indicating that the volcanic landform is still in the early stage of erosion. Judging from the contact relationship between the volcanic eruptions and the overlying and underlying strata, the Datong Volcanic Group is the product of multiple activities at the end of Pliocene and the beginning of Malan loess accumulation in late Pleistocene. The earliest activities are in the northern and eastern regions, followed by the southern region, and the latest in the western region.

Datong volcano group is the largest and most famous in seven places, such as Gelao mountain, Heishan mountain, Langwo mountain, Jinshan mountain, pailou mountain, haotiansi mountain and MATI mountain. They are truncated cone-shaped, sparsely scattered in nearly one million square meters. An extinct volcano whose mean has long been extinguished.

geographical environment

Speaking of volcanoes, there is only one important active volcano that has been active since the 20th century. According to relevant statistics, it is said that there are at least 250 known volcanoes on our earth, of which 60% are mostly distributed in North and South America and island countries in the Pacific Ocean, such as Indonesia, Japan, the United States, Chile, Nicaraguan and Guatemalan. The eruption of active volcano will undoubtedly bring all kinds of disasters, but contemporary human beings regard it as a magnificent natural landscape to praise and appreciate. What's more, many countries and regions take the eruption and agitation of these active volcanoes as a kind of rare tourism resources for development and utilization, which can not only satisfy people's curious psychological and sensory enjoyment, but also enable us to acquire a lot of scientific knowledge and deepen our understanding of the earth we live in for generations . As a result, there are dozens of such active volcano tourist resorts or active volcano national parks in the world. For example, in the United States, there are Larsen Volcano National Park in California, Hawaii Volcano National Park and St. Helens volcano resort in Washington state. In the Philippines, there are also ABO Volcano National Park and Mayon volcano resort. In Costa Rica and El Salvador, there are irasu volcano and isalko volcano resort. In order to meet the needs of tourists from all over the world to visit Etna volcano in Italy, a 4-kilometer-long ropeway was set up on the summit of Etna volcano in the 1960s, so that tourists can better see the crater of Etna volcano from the active cable car. And the number of people engaged in volcano tourism in the local area has reached about 300000. There are active volcanoes and residual volcanoes in the world. For example, in Tanzania, there was the ngoro crater wildlife park, and in the former Soviet Union, there were places for tourism like the karadag volcano. Datong volcano - to be exact, this is a dead volcano community with more than 30 complete and beautiful volcanic cones within an area of about 900 square kilometers. This huge volcanic family belongs to the typical remains of Quaternary volcanic movement. They are located in the flat and broad east wing of Datong Basin and the valley of the middle reaches of Sanggan River. Geologists and geographers divide the volcanic communities in Datong into four regions: the East, the west, the South and the north. Among them, the West volcano, which is located in the northeast of today's Yunzhou District, is the most dense and spectacular part of the volcanic cone landscape. Most of them are between 1100 meters and 1400 meters above sea level, probably because of the flat and broad valley landform. These volcanic cones stand out like ghosts in the ground one by one, showing a kind of power and mystery. The most famous ones are Jinshan, Heishan, Langwo mountain, Gelao mountain, Shuangshan, MATI mountain, Laohu mountain and haotiansi mountain.

Strange scenery

In fact, a bird's-eye view of the volcanic community in Datong is the most artistic conception and the most vivid and distinctive. For example, the largest crater in the western area is Langwo mountain, which is about 500 meters in diameter, almost in a round shape, and the average depth of the crater is 30 to 50 meters, which is also the deepest crater in the Datong Volcanic Group. Haotian mountain, also known as Haotian temple mountain, is the most complete natural cone of the crater in the western part of Datong. A bird's-eye view of the mountain reveals little trace of water erosion on the mountain during hundreds of thousands of years. Located in the Northeast suburb of Datong County, it has become one of the most significant natural signs of this small county. Why is it called "Haotian temple mountain"? This is because as early as the Ming Dynasty, the local people had already built a Buddhist temple named Haotian temple on the top of the mountain, that is, in the middle of the crater. If we can see from the satellite photos that the volcanic cone of Heishan is like a crawling "jellyfish", then if we use the same method to observe the Jinshan volcanic cone about two kilometers away from the west of Heishan, it is more like a bright "comet" burning in the summer night sky. Its "comet tail" is not only vivid and long (about 300 meters, for volcanic explosion) It was formed by the outflow of magma from the pass, and it was white and shining. Looking down from the sky, it looks like a golden "peach heart". Because it is surrounded by radial water erosion ditch texture, the "golden light" from the "peach heart" is more attractive. Dongpingshan volcanic cone is far away from the dense area of volcanoes in the western region. It is located about two kilometers east of Yunzhou district. Because the lava flows southeast when the volcano erupts, there is an obvious gap in the southeast of the cone, which makes the whole cone crown look like a lifelike giant horseshoe. Over time, Dongping mountain has another nickname, that is "horseshoe mountain". In a word, the volcanic cones in the west of Datong under the high-altitude vision are just living creatures with group image, a group of living creatures with life form.

value

Different from many island countries in North and South America or Oceania that we have mentioned, the whole East Asian continent, especially in our ancient motherland, has been so peaceful and quiet for thousands of years that it is hard for people to find any trace of active volcano agitation here. Perhaps because of this, in the eyes of many geographers, the Datong volcano has become a rare specimen for people in the East Asian continent to understand the volcanic geology in this area, no matter from the perspective of the diversity of the overall scale and composition of the community and the integrity of the original landscape. According to the expert's conclusion, the volcanic cones formed by central eruption can be divided into four basic types: shield type, dome type, cinder type and stratiform type according to the difference of their composition and appearance. The whole Datong volcanic community has been confirmed to include these four basic types. Not long ago, when we were once again at the top of the Haotian Temple volcanic cone in the Western District of Datong, Mr. Lu Yunting, a well-known geographer and tourist from Beijing Normal University of China, was quite moved. He said that as a rare natural heritage of the East Asian continent, the volcanic cone community in Datong should not only be cherished and protected, but also be made known to people, It has gradually become a popular science education base for teenagers and a tourist attraction for tourists at home and abroad.

Current situation and protection

The Datong volcano group was savagely excavated, and the geological and historical relics need to be protected urgently

Chinese PinYin : Da Tong Huo Shan Qun