China - Sichuan - Zigong UNESCO Global Geopark

Traditional salt well structure in Zigong, Sichuan Province, China.

Sent by Huang Peijin from Zigong, China.

Zigong UNESCO Global Geopark lies in Zigong City, Sichuan Province, China, in the Asia-Pacific region. Zigong UNESCO Global Geopark belongs to the Ziliujing Depression of the Sichuan syncline on the Yangtze Platform. It connects with the southern margin of Weiyuan-Longnusi uplift on the north, the southern Sichuan lower folded zone on the southeast and the Liangshan folded zone on the southwest. The geoheritage in Zigong UNESCO Global Geopark is dominated by the extremely abundant dinosaur fossils and other vertebrate fossils, the typical Jurassic section and complete salt production relics. Most of this geoheritage is of national and international significance in scientific research. The widely distributed Jurassic terrestrial strata in the UNESCO Global Geopark yields a great amount of dinosaur and other vertebrate fossils, commonly forming large-scale taphonomic assemblages. Zigong UNESCO Global Geopark is rich in salt mines, with a production history of about two thousand years. A variety of the salt industry relics have been well preserved (read more).