Introduction

Changshan National Geological Park, located in Changshan County, covers an area of 82 square kilometers. The landscape and fossils in the park exhibit the classical stratigraphic profiles backed by great geological and paleontological research. The park is divided into 4 areas including Jindingzi (a geological term for GSSP, Global Stratotype Area and Point), Sanqu Mount, Qingshi and Changshan Port, among which Jindingzi is the core area.

Jindingzi (GSSP) Area
Huangnitang GSSP is the first GSSP accredited by International Union of Geological Sciences in China in January 1997. Located 3.5 km towards the south of Changshan, it represents the typical fully developed geological landscape in the Ordovician period, and also possesses a rare standard stratigraphic profile. The area is regarded as a real life textbook representation of geology. 460 million year ago, Huangnitang GSSP was situated in the ocean. With the movement of earth’s crust, the seabed rose and formed as a land mass, with all the ancient creatures in the ocean gradually becaming fossils. The most common fossils found here are those of graptolite, conodonts, brachiopoda and trilobite, as well as some gastropoda fossils.

Qingshi Area
The main attractions in Qingshi area are the structural relics formed by the movement of the earth’s crust. Although we always believe the earth and land to be sturdy, the outmost part of the planet on which we reside is in constant movement, shifting and colliding and releasing tension along fault lines. . For example, 500 thousand years ago, the collision of the India Ocean Plate and the Asia Plate caused the formation of the Himalaya Mountains, which is known as the roof of the earth due to it being the highest mountain range on the planet. The limestone and granite from Qingshi Area too were formed due to tectonic activity.