Types, features and genesis of geological heritage resources in Huangshan City

The city of Huangshan is located at the intersection of the eastern part of Jiangnan orogenic belt and the western Pacific structural domain. Unique geographic location and geologic history, geotectonic settings and climate environment jointly constitute abundant resources of geological relic. Through field geological investigation and indoor comprehensive research, 126 geological heritages have been found in Huangshan, which can be divided into three major categories, eleven categories and thirty-two sub-categories with geological profile, important fossil origin, important rock and ore origin, rock and soil landform, water body landform as the key types. The formation age, distribution, types and resource characteristics of the major geological heritages are further summarized and compared. It was found that geological heritages in Huangshan were the products of various geological factors, including internal causes such as tectonic movement and magma intrusion, external causes such as biological activity, differential weathering, water erosion, gravity collapse and human factors. The geological heritage resources in Huangshan have high research value and popular science significance in basic geology, geomorphology, ecological environment and social humanities. The values of geological heritages can be realized by applying for geological parks, launching high-quality geological tourism routes, and establishing geological teaching and popular science research base and so on.