Puluo Volcano

　　Introduction　　     Puluo Volcano is actually a layer of volcanic lava formed from the southern Kunlun Mountains, with activity dating back to approximately 1.43 million years ago. The lava layers are distributed on the high terraces on both sides of the middle reaches of the Keriya River. There are two distinct layers of lava: the lower layer is 7 meters thick and consists of volcanic agglomerate and dense massive lava, resting on a bed of gravel with visible baking marks on the contact surface; between the two layers lies a 12.3-meter-thick gravel layer. The upper lava layer is 20 meters thick and is made up of agglomerate, dense massive rock, and vesicular rock.

　　     Both the upper and lower lava layers were formed during the Early Pleistocene epoch of the Quaternary period, resulting from two separate volcanic eruptions of basalt (trachyandesite). These basalt formations make up the steep cliffs of the terraces, resembling numerous bizarrely shaped monsters gazing into the distance—an impressive sight. The volcanic rocks cover the gravel layers of the river’s sixth-level terraces, which are in turn overlain by aeolian sandy loess. Both volcanic events originated from the high-altitude zones of the southern Kunlun Mountains and were of significant scale, making them highly important for the study of the formation and environmental evolution of the Tibetan Plateau and the Kunlun Mountains. Puluo Volcano remains in its pristine, well-preserved state.　     

　　 Hotan, Xinjiang