Shell Hill

Shell Hill

Introduction Located in a desert area to the southeast of Nuomuhong Township, Dulan County. Shell Hill isn’t very high — calling it a “hill” is a poetic exaggeration by the desert dwellers. It runs from east to west, about sixty to seventy meters wide and roughly two kilometers long. Countless shells, ranging in size from as big as coins to as small as thumbnails, have solidified together with salt-alkali-laden silt, layer upon layer, piled up in countless shapes. This area was once an ancient sea with vast, blue waters, but now the ancient sea has receded and the land has risen. Shell Hill is a remnant and a witness of that ancient sea, encapsulating a page of Earth’s dramatic geological transformation.

Qinghai Delingha