Geological characteristics and genesis analysis of the Ningdu Danxia landform in southern Jiangxi Province

The development of tourism has promoted the research on basic geology of Danxia landform in recent years. Ningdu County of southern Jiangxi Province is famous for its unique Danxia landform scenery. Through electromagnetic sounding and field geological survey, this study analyzed the geological characteristics of the Danxia landform and landscape in aspects of material foundation, tectonic action and geological forces, discussed the main scene-forming strata and modes of the Danxia landform, and compared them with the typical Danxia landforms in adjacent areas. The study shows that the main strata of the Ningdu Danxia landform consist mainly of upper Cretaceous Hekou and Tangbian Formations, the crust uplift resulted in exposure of red bed strata, and geological processes(such as water erosion, collapse, etc)gave rise to the formation of present Danxia landform. Comparison with typical Danxia landforms in the southeastern regions suggests that the Danxia landforms in Ningdu County has its own unique characteristics besides common features of the Danxia landforms, due to controlling effect of geological and geographical condition and development stages of Danxia landform. The whole region had been in a slow uplifting process since the Cenozoic, and multi-level fractures and joints were developed within the redbed strata due to activity of NE to NNE trending fault zone during the period from the Cretaceous Yanshan movement to the Himalayan movement. The Ningdu region belongs to the subtropical humid climate zone, with abundant rainfall. Under the interaction of the Ganjiang River and its tributaries, the Danxia landforms and redbed hills were formed in different lithology arrangements, weathered and denuded at different speeds in the Danxia strata. This study is of great significance not only to further develop and protect geosciences and tourism resources, but also to support poverty alleviation in Ganzhou city and carry out further comparative study of Danxia landforms in southeastern China.