Chapter 10 Banguo soil forest comparable to stone forest①

In 1973, when we were investigating the origin of Yuanmou Man fossils, we discovered a "soil forest" comparable to the Lunan Stone Forest in a small basin called "Banguo" on the west side of the Yuanmou Basin in Yunnan Province.It is not formed by limestone but by the soil-like deposits of the Pliocene of the Tertiary Period after long-term weathering.Some people say that you have not been to Yunnan if you don’t go to Stone Forest. What I want to say here is that if you come to Yunnan, it would be a pity if you don’t visit "Banguo soil forest"! ① Originally published in Geological News, December 17, 1980.

Recently we came here again, with comrades from the Central News Film Studio and Xinhua News Agency, as well as painters, all of whom came here admiringly.We took the train on the Chengdu-Kunming Line, departed from Kunming, got off at Yuanmou Station, and then went by car.The car left Yuanmou County and went westward for about 2 kilometers, waded through the Longchuan River, a tributary of the Jinsha River in shallow water, and then turned over the low mountain ridge at the western edge of the Yuanmou Basin to the Pudeng River.Here is surrounded by mountains and rivers, and the scenery is very beautiful.After crossing the Pudeng River, the car will drive into a white quicksand river - the local name is "White Sand River".The Baisha River usually has no water, and it is a dry valley, so the car drives slowly on the beach.As the car drove in, the peaks were crowding head-on. After the road forked, the car entered the fork. Soon, strange peaks stood on the side of the road, and the mountain road was intersected. Get off the car and roam, the banguo soil forest has arrived.

There are strange images formed of sand and soil everywhere, some of which resemble architectural complexes, such as the Potala Palace, such as ancient Roman castles; Political Lenin wrote in October 1919, such as a princess in a wide skirt going to a ball, some like a loving couple or a young woman eagerly waiting for her relatives to return, and some like a crowd rushing to the street.In addition, there are various forms of animals, such as long-sounding camels, eagles spreading their wings, etc. You can name them according to the shape, attach many imaginary plots, and make up many beautiful stories.

The climate in the basin is hot, there are few trees, only clusters of weeds, and there are petrified woods-petrified trees everywhere on the ground.A variety of mammal fossils have also been found in the soil layer, such as the big-lipped rhinoceros and stegodont... Among them, the stegodont was named after "Bango", called "Bango stegodont", which adds to the The mysterious color of the earth forest. Banguo Soil Forest and Lunan Stone Forest are masterpieces of nature. They have basically the same origin, which is a columnar combination formed by bedrock after long-term dissolution, erosion and division of rainwater.The difference is that the bedrock of the latter is the limestone formed in the early Permian deep sea 270 million years ago, while the bedrock of Banguo Shanglin is the Pliocene lake from 3 million to 12 million years ago. River sediments.Rainwater not only dissolves the calcium components in the soil accumulation, but also cements the sand with calcium carbonate under hot climate conditions, so the various shapes of the soil forest can be preserved for a long time.In particular, there are a lot of minerals in the sandy soil, which makes the soil forest show pink, orange, light blue, rose red and other colors, colorful, and with the sunlight from different angles, the color of the soil forest will continue to change. It is more charming than the dark color of the stone forest.

I have also roamed in the Stone Forest, and I feel that the Stone Forest gives people a sense of solemnity and solemnity with its majestic and magnificent peaks and rocks, and the myth of Ashima strengthens its dark and tragic atmosphere.On the background of blue sky, scorching sun and floating white clouds, Banguo soil forest presents a colorful and ever-changing fairy tale world, giving people a sense of joy.The secular regime as the "City of the World" will be replaced by the "City of God". If Lunan Shilin is the strong older brother, then Banguotulin is the soft and beautiful younger sister.No wonder the comrades who roamed here with us were full of admiration, and they all expressed their desire to publicize the scenic spots of Bango and suggested that it should be turned into a new tourist spot.

If you have the opportunity to come to Yunnan, don't you want to roam here and enjoy the beautiful scenery?