Taibai Mountain

Taibai Mountain

statement

This entry introduces the Taibai Mountain itself. For the information of Taibai Mountain Scenic Area, please refer to the entry of "Taibai Mountain National Forest Park".

Taibai Mountain, the highest peak of the Qinling Mountains, is also the first peak in the east of the Qinghai Tibet Plateau. It stands out like a rooster and ranks first among the Qinling Mountains. Since ancient times, Taibai Mountain is famous for its high, cold, dangerous, strange, rich and mysterious characteristics.

Taibai Mountain is the highest section of the watershed between Weihe River system and Hanjiang River system. It has low mountain, middle mountain, high mountain and other geomorphic types with clear boundaries and different characteristics. In particular, all kinds of geomorphic forms carved by Quaternary glacial activities remain complete and clear.

The climate of the northern and southern slopes of Taibai Mountain is quite different. With the increase of altitude, the climate types present continuous zonal distribution according to certain rules. Due to the three-dimensional difference of climate, the distribution of plants and animals also forms the corresponding vertical band spectrum. The differences of climate, animals and plants affect the weathering process of surface rocks and directly participate in the formation of different types of soil. The natural landscape of natural complex with climate as its gene, vegetation and soil as its mark also forms different types of landscape belts in vertical position. All these make Taibai Mountain rich in animal and plant resources. The mountain is lush with trees and Chinese herbal medicines everywhere. In particular, the only relict plant in the world, monocotyledon, is unique in Taibai Mountain. Abundant plant resources provide sufficient food for wild animals. Pheasants such as blood pheasant, red bellied horned pheasant, and mammals such as giant panda, golden monkey and takin live in Taibai Mountain. Since the 19th century, scholars at home and abroad have come to Taibai Mountain for investigation. Taibai Mountain has become the main base for the investigation, research and teaching practice of summer tourism in various disciplines.

Taibai Mountain is a scenic spot and a place for Taoist activities. Since the Tang and Song Dynasties, many literati have come to visit the site and left their famous poems and essays. According to the records of the scenic spots in Guanzhong, Taibai Mountain is the eleventh cave of Taoism. Therefore, every summer, mountain climbers and pilgrims come in an endless stream.

At the 2018 Northwest China Tourism Marketing Conference and tourism equipment exhibition, he was shortlisted in the list of "100 wonders of Northwest China".

The origin of mountain name

The name of Taibai Mountain has a long history. The definition of Taibai Mountain in modern geography includes Taibai Mountain, Aoshan mountain and xipaomaliang mountain. The original Taibai Mountain and Aoshan East-West confrontation, also known as the East and West Taibai Mountain.

Taibai Mountain is called "Dunwu mountain" in Shangshu Yugong, and it is said in Shuowen Jiezi: "Dun is rich in things." It can be seen that the ancients had discovered its unique property early, and the mountain was famous for its "Dunwu". It can also be seen that the economic development at that time was closely related to this mountain.

According to the legend, Taiyi mountain is the place where Taiyi people practice. It is recorded in the book of recording the differences that "the essence of Venus falls to the west of Guifeng in Zhongnan, and its refined white stone is as beautiful as jade. Sometimes it has purple Qi, so it is named Most of them are called "Taibai Mountain" according to the meaning of Taibai Venus, which is recorded in the collection of ancient and modern books, the atlas of the scenic spots in Guanzhong and the annals of Fuxian county.

The name of "Taibai Mountain" was first found in Wei Shu · geographical records, and has been used since Sui and Tang Dynasties. Taibai Mountain used to belong to Wugong County. The mountain is high and dangerous, so there is a saying that "the martial arts are too white, three hundred days away".

"Shuijingzhu" contains: Taibai Mountain "is the most beautiful and outstanding in all mountains, with snow in winter and summer, it looks bright." In the past, Taibai Mountain had a strong momentum, and there was no time for wind and rain. Only in the heat of June, people began to pass through Taibai Mountain, which was called "Kaishan". Outside June, the road is blocked by fog and snow, and few people can visit it. It is commonly known as "Fengshan". As a result, there is a myth in shuijingzhu that "when marching at the foot of the mountain, there is no drum horn. If the drum horn comes, the wind and rain will come.". Modern people are no longer limited by "opening mountains" or "closing mountains", and can climb mountains at any time. The saying of "no drum horn" and "no wind and rain coming" only shows that the climate on the mountain is changeable.

Aoshan was called chuishan in ancient times. Its mountain is covered with snow in winter and summer, so it is called chuishan. In other words, at the beginning, Venus fell to the west of Guifeng, which was refined into white stone, so it was named "jade".

Location boundary

Taibai Mountain crosses three counties of Taibai County, Meixian County and Zhouzhi County. Its main peak is located in the east of Taibai County, with an altitude of 3771.2 meters. Its geographical coordinates are between 107 ° 41'23 ″ - 107 ° 51'40 ″ E and 33 ° 49'31 ″ - 34 ° 08'11 ″ n, and it is 43.25 km away from Taibai county. The distance between the two peaks is about 31.81 km, and the distance between them is 20 km. The mountain stretches from east to west across the eastern part of Taibai County, and is located in the south of Yingge Township, taochuan Township and zuitou town. It starts from zuitou town in the West and ends at laojunling in Zhouzhi County in the East. It is bounded by the reach of Gushui River in huangbaiyuan township of Taibai County in the South and Yingge and Yingtou in Meixian County in the north. The distance is about 61 km from east to west and 39 km from south to North.

Geology and geomorphology

geological structure

Taibaishan batholith is composed of granite, with the center of baxiantai, which is distributed in the area of 900 square kilometers. The outcrops in baxiantai area are mainly amphibole granite, gneissic granite and biotite granite. This large-scale granite block is mainly caused by the continuous upward intrusion of underground acidic magma during the geological tectonic movement, and finally gradually condensed into rock. The formation of batholith is not overnight, but after a long time and complex changes.

Mountain formation. During the Sinian period, about 600 million years ago, the whole Qinling area was a vast ocean. At that time, the ground was sunken, the sea became deeper, the marine sediments developed, and gradually formed limestone, dolomite, etc., and sporadic magmatic eruptions occurred on the seafloor. During the Caledonian movement 400 million years ago, it rose and uplifted, and gradually folded into mountains, forming the rudiment of Taibai Mountain. Since then, there have been many structural changes during the Hercynian and Indosinian movements. Magma immersion and metamorphism further developed its rudiment. According to recent geological data, the isotopic age of the Taibai batholith is mainly between 206 and 229 million years.

During the period of violent crustal movement and relative calm, Taibai Mountain mainly rises slowly. In the low-lying areas with relatively small rising range, water flows converge to form rivers and lakes. The sediment deposited in rivers and lakes gradually forms shale and sandstone. The surface of Taibai Mountain was exposed for a long time and eroded, which made Taibai Mountain gradually flattened. By the late Mesozoic, 100 million years ago, the terrain here was low and undulating, showing a quasi plain state. During the Yanshanian movement about 100 million to 70 million years ago, the Taibai Mountain Rose and uplifted again, and the acidic magma was immersed again, which further complicated the composition of the Taibai batholith. The Taibai Mountain is an active block sandwiched between two nearly EW trending faults. At this time, the large fault on the north side of Qinling Mountains was downfaulted by the Weihe River Valley, and the Taibai Mountain Block on the south side of the fault was uplifted unevenly from north to south. After the Yanshan movement, the Himalayan movement was the most intense period of Taibai mountain rise. At that time, the Taibaishan block rose sharply by leaping, and the north elevation was more obvious than the south, and the Weihe Valley declined rapidly, which made the ridge line close to the north, and formed a steep mountain. Therefore, the north slope is steep and the south slope is relatively gentle.

Since the Cenozoic era, which began about 70 million years ago, the sediments in the bottom of Weihe River Valley are 5000-6000 meters thick. The elevation of Taibai mountain top has risen to 3771.2 meters, and the subsidence and rise range has exceeded 9000 meters.

The violent movement of the earth's crust is not only a disastrous attack on the biological world, but also a force to force the development and evolution of organisms. Some of the species that survived developed and prospered by changing themselves to adapt to the new environment, some were eliminated, and some were migrated. In the early Cenozoic, the whole Qinling Mountains, including Taibai Mountain, were not high, so there was little biological difference between the north and the south. Later, the sharp rise of the Qinling Mountains resulted in a significant difference in the natural conditions between the north and the south, resulting in a significant differentiation of organisms. With the advent of the Quaternary ice age, a number of organisms were eliminated, and more and more new organisms with stronger vitality followed. According to the geological drilling, in the 3 million years since the Quaternary, the maximum decline of Weihe valley bottom has exceeded 3000 meters. So far, the neotectonic movement of Taibai Mountain is still going on, so some residual rocks and Quaternary glacial remains of Mesozoic peneplain are preserved on the top of the mountain.

Geomorphological features

From bottom to top, Taibai Mountain is divided into three geomorphic types: low mountain area, middle mountain area and high mountain area. The low mountain area is covered with loess, the middle mountain area has developed stone peaks, and the high mountain area retains glacial relics. Low mountain area

This area is between 800-1300 meters above sea level. The topography is undulating and has the comprehensive characteristics of loess landform and Rocky Mountain landform. The relative elevation difference is not big. The loess is covered and the mountain top is round. At the exposed bedrock, the water often erodes and cuts along the fault zone, forming a deep canyon.

mountain area

The north slope is from liujiaya to fangyangsi, and the south slope is from huangbaiyuan to Sanqingchi, which belongs to the middle mountain area of stone. Below the main hall is a deep valley with V-shaped broken rocks and steep ridges between the valleys. Above the main hall, there are many stone peaks, towering mountains and rocks, rugged boulders and various forms. From the main hall to the Doumu palace, there are many green mountains, which are like a screen. The stone on the Northeast beam of the main hall is very peculiar. Granite gneiss pillars near Doumu Palace

Chinese PinYin : Tai Bai Shan