Danxia landform

Around 80 million years ago (Ma) cretaceous red sandstone and conglomerate was laid down by sedimentation from the lakes and streams. After another 15 million years, tectonic plate movements created many faults. About 23 Ma, movement of the Himalayan range disturbed the land around the danxia landform in the Guangdong province uplifting and completely changing the topography of the area. Over millions of years the steep cliffs that can be seen today, exposed by faults, were formed through weathering and erosion. This geology can be seen at Danxiashan Geopark in China, where there is about 290 square kilometers of streams, forest and towering danxian rock formations. == Origin of name ==

In 1928, the mineral scientist Feng Jinglan noticed the widespread distribution of the red oxidation layer. Feng Jinglan realized that this was an undescribed landform. He decided to name it as danxia, which comes from the poem The Hibiscus Pool by Cao Pi of the 3rd century. The name "danxia" refers to "丹 (vermilion) 霞 (sunglow)" in Chinese. ==Studies==

In an effort to learn more about danxia topography, a study on the geomorphology of an area in China was conducted. Mount Danxia was the focus of the research, taking Digital Elevation Matrix (DEM) based data from many watersheds and basins in the area. Understanding the hydrology of the area can tell a lot about the nearby formations. For example, "localized erosion has enhanced deepening of existing fractures rather than lateral erosion to form deep and narrow valleys, while long-term erosion provided large and gentle watersheds." This study used ArcGIS. These scientists took maps of the area and overlaid certain features they wanted to measure, such as stream length and size. ==China Danxia==

China Danxia, or Danxia landform of China, is a subset of the Danxia landforms which, in August 2010, entered the World Heritage List. == See also ==