“At the origin of Asian mammals”
Celebrating Earth Heritage
Tianzhushan UNESCO Global Geopark is located in Qianshan County, Anqing City, Anhui Province, P.R. China.
Tianzhushan is located in the eastern part of the Dabieshan Orogenic Belt between the North China Plate and Yangtze Plate and the recombination section of the Tancheng-Lujiang Fault Zone. Dabieshan Ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphic belt, traversing Xindian-Pailou district in the southern part of the UNESCO Global Geopark, exposes abundant UHP metamorphic rocks, such as eclogite, jadeite quartzite and garnet peridotite, among which diamond-bearing eclogite and coesite-bearing eclogite are the most representative and record the geological evolution process of the deep subduction orogenic collision and the retracing of the continental crust, and Tianzhushan is one of the most typical areas for the research of continental dynamics. Tianzhushan UNESCO Global Geopark is characterized by majestic peak clusters of granite, collapsed and stacked landform and stone-egg landform, and produces abundant Paleocene mammalian fossils with Asian endemic characteristics, which gives it a unique position in researching the evolution of mammals in early Cenozoic era. Therefore, Tianzhushan is recognized as one of the origin places of Asian mammals.
Sustaining local Communities
Tianzhushan UNESCO Global Geopark has established cooperation relationship for the science popularization with surrounding primary and secondary schools. The Geological Survey Institute of Anhui Province, China University of Geosciences, Anqing Vocational Technical College and other universities establish training bases for scientific research in the UNESCO Global Geopark. Tianzhushan UNESCO Global Geopark makes use of rich educational resources to hold colourful educational activities for common tourists, geological professionals, community residents and students at all levels, in the ways of outdoor interpretation, the geo-museum, science popularization materials, TV documentaries, science popularization seminars and field scientific exploration trips. Tianzhushan UNESCO Global Geopark gives priority to the protection of the geo-environment, develops green industries like geo-tourism, ecological agriculture and forestry, implements strict environment-protection standards, inherits local culture, encourages developing cultural industry and raises residents’ awareness of the environment protection to ensure the sustainable development of local economy and society.
