Quaternary Glacial Relics

Quaternary Glacial Relics

The Quaternary Glacial Relics are a cultural tourism attraction.

The Quaternary glacial relics—numerous pothole clusters and associated ice stone forests, horn peaks, and rock rivers—discovered in multiple locations across Chifeng City, including Balinzuo Banner, Hexigten Banner, Ongniud Banner, and Ningcheng County, are “the largest in number, most widely distributed, most varied in form, best preserved, and most distinctly characteristic ancient glacial relics found both domestically and internationally. Such relics are extremely rare worldwide and can be called a ‘world wonder.’” The Quaternary glacial period was “the third sudden major cold period to appear on Earth,” during which not only high-latitude regions were covered by glaciers, but mid-latitude areas also experienced cold climates, with mountain glaciers developing in alpine regions. The first person to discover Quaternary glacial relics on Mount Lu was the renowned Chinese geologist Li Siguang. In 1931, he led students and faculty from Peking University to conduct fieldwork on Mount Lu. From 1932 to 1933, he conducted a systematic survey of the Quaternary glacial relics there. He concluded that Mount Lu contained many Quaternary sedimentary deposits and certain unique landforms that could not be scientifically explained without the action of glaciers. After detailed and systematic research, he became convinced that multiple glacial activities had occurred on Mount Lu during the Quaternary period. In 1932, he published “The Fourth Glacial Period in the Yangtze River Basin,” pointing out the presence of cirques and glacial U-shaped valleys on Mount Lu, as well as discovering a large number of glacial striated rocks.

The discovered Quaternary glacial relics are located in the Oroqen Autonomous Banner of the Greater Khingan Mountains region in Inner Mongolia, covering an area of 59,880 square kilometers with a forest coverage rate of 97.2%. It features numerous glacial lakes, over 200 rivers, and serves as a major source of the Nenjiang River. The glacially eroded wetlands, along with some larger wetlands and numerous small lakes distributed in the Oroqen River Valley, all belong to glacially eroded wetland areas. These were formed by the erosional actions of ancient glaciers. After the glaciers retreated, the depressions filled with water and mostly evolved into wetlands. The Ice Stone River is located on Yilhuli Mountain, the main peak of the Greater Khingan Mountains at an elevation of 1,083 meters, 105 kilometers from Alihe Town. The rocks are volcanic in origin, covering an area of over 10,000 square meters. It consists of linearly distributed glacial erratics and freeze-thaw rock debris transported and deposited within the valley, characterized by a “river valley” that is higher than the surrounding “riverbanks.” Glacial erratic stones are boulders transported and deposited by large ice sheet glaciers. These stones possess unique morphological characteristics that serve as evidence of glacial activity—for example, stones shaped like lamps are called “lamp stones,” and those with saddle-like shapes are called “saddle stones.” These can be observed in multiple locations within the Oroqen mountain river valleys.

The discovery of a large number of glacial relics holds extremely high scientific value and academic significance: First, it provides a definitive conclusion to the half-century-long debate over whether the Greater Khingan Mountains region had Quaternary glaciers. At the same time, it fully confirms the correctness and foresight of the Chinese Quaternary Glacial Theory jointly established by the renowned Chinese geologist Professor Li Siguang and his colleagues. Second, the abundance of these relics provides important evidence for studying the evolution of ancient climate and environment in the region, and offers crucial data for analyzing and predicting trends in modern climate and environmental changes. Among the pothole clusters discovered in the Chifeng area, those in Daqing Mountain of Hexigten Banner are the most typical. Within an area of about 2 square kilometers at an altitude of 1,500 meters, there are over 300 potholes of varying sizes—the largest with a diameter of more than 10 meters, and the smallest just a few centimeters. These are accompanied by glacial landforms such as ice stone forests, horn peaks, rock rivers, and arete ridges, offering significant value for sightseeing, scientific research, and public education.