Rare! New discovery in Hoh Xil

Hoh Xil, located on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, is the largest uninhabited area in my country. During the ongoing scientific expedition to the source of the Yangtze River by China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), the expedition team discovered a large-scale "red mountain range" in Hoh Xil that is rare in the area. The discovery of this special geological phenomenon will help deepen scientific research on the uplift process of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

This is a photo of the "Red Mountain Range" taken by a drone. (Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Long)

The "Red Mountain Range" here is located in the middle of the Hoh Xil Basin. The reporter followed the scientific expedition team to the scene and saw that the reddish-brown mountain was very conspicuous among the green grasslands of Hoh Xil in summer, and the strata on the mountain were clear and layered.

Shen Tianyi, an expedition member and associate professor at the School of Earth Sciences of China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), said that these "red mountains" in the Hoh Xil Basin were mainly formed in the late Cretaceous to the Paleogene period, more than 70 million to 30 million years ago. The mountains are nearly east-west oriented, with asymmetrical slopes, steep in the south and gentle in the north. The stratigraphic profile is clearly exposed, and it is a spectacular ancient geological relic on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Shen Tianyi said that the red strata are exposed over 160 kilometers from north to south and nearly 600 kilometers from east to west. "The exposed area of ​​the red strata is rare in China."

This is a photo of the "Red Mountain Range" taken by a drone. (Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Long)

It is reported that this "Red Mountain Range" is composed of brick-red and purple-red rocks from the Tanggula Mountains that were weathered and eroded, then transported by rivers to the Hoh Xil Basin and deposited. Later, they were transformed by geological tectonic movements and exposed to the ground, forming the current landform.

Shen Tianyi is checking the characteristics of the rocks. (Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Long)

Geological research has found that more than 30 million years ago, the altitude of Hoh Xil was very low and it was in the state of a large lake. Later, as the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau rose, Hoh Xil also rose to form an intermountain basin. According to the scientific expedition team, the "Red Mountain Range" geological landscape in Hoh Xil is not only expected to become a large "geological park" in Hoh Xil, but the rich geological information contained in it is closely related to the uplift process of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which will provide important support for in-depth research on the evolution of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Source: Xinhua News Agency

Reporter: Wang Bo, Zhang Long, Chen Jie

Original title: "my country's scientific expedition team discovered a rare "red mountain range" in Hoh Xil"

Producer: Liu Hong, Huang Linhao

Editor: Gui Ting

Proofreading: Dong Jingxue