Yandangshan UNESCO Global Geopark

Yandangshan UNESCO Global Geopark is located in Zhejiang Province, China. Geologically, Yandangshan UNESCO Global Geopark lies on the southern edge of the Pacific Rim on the Asian continent – the structural domain where China borders the Pacific. The terrain of the Geopark includes the 900-1100m mountains, such as Bai Gangjian, Wu Yanjian and Yan Hugang, which are a northeast-trending mountain chain. This mountain is an offshoot of the Kuocang Mountains. The south part of Yandangshan UNESCO Global Geopark is the Yueqing Bay in the East China Sea.

Mount Yandangshan is an ancient Cretaceous rhyolitic volcano. The trending subduction from Yizenaiji - Kula - Pacific plate oblique to the Asian continental plate was made at a low angle, and the strong crustal movement recorded complete geological evolution of volcanic eruptions - collapse - resurrection and uplift in Mount Yandangshan. Four volcanic eruptions occurred and four top-down rock geological units were formed. After being faulted, cut and uplifted, the caldera of Mount Yandangshan has become a natural three-dimensional model of a caldera and is also known as a natural museum of rhyolitic volcanics. The geology, petrofacies, rocks and other volcanic landscape, and exotic layers, sharp peaks, rock crosscut caves, waterfalls and other landscapes are well preserved in the park and form the Mount Yandangshan landscape. Thick rhyolite pillars contribute to the beauty of Mt. Yandangshan. It is said that these pillars are the ‘bones of the mountain’. The exploration of Mt. Yandangshan began more than 1,200 years ago and endured through successive dynasties. The early Chinese scientist Shenkuo, in collaboration with Joseph Needham, an English scientist, set forth the theory that the landscape was formed as a result of erosion carried out by running water. Earlier Chinese thinkers, too, drew inspiration from the mountain.