The Shanwang National Geology Park () is located in central

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

province, People's Republic of China, about from

Linqu County Linqu County () is a county, originally known as "Pianyi", located in the southwest of Weifang and the middle of Shandong Peninsula, Shandong Province, China. Linqu also has the name Zhuxu County. It covers an area of and governs 937 villages whic ...

. It has an area of about . The Park is well known for its

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

bearing diatomitic deposits, one of only a few such deposits in China. It is also well known for its

volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...

topography.

Fossils

The fossils are found in the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

Shanwang Formation diatomite beds and are approximately 17 million years old. They are noted for the prolific number of specimens found and the diversity of the species recovered, as well as the remarkable state of their preservation. The fine grained diatomite strata have led to exquisite preservation of external body features such as outlines of skin, hair, scales and feathers, rarely seen elsewhere in the world. Fossils have been found in a dozen categories, representing over 600 separate species. Animal fossils include insects, fish, spiders, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. Insect fossils have clear, intact veins. Some have retained beautiful colours. Those studied to date include 11 orders, 46 families, 100 genera and 182 species. Fossil birds recovered at Shanwang are the most abundant and best-preserved found so far in China. Fossils of ancient deer and bear are among the best-preserved from this period of time found anywhere in the world. Plant fossils include moss, fern, gymnosperm, and angiosperm species. In addition to 100 species of algae, other plant species are from 46 families, 98 genera and 143 species.

References

Parks in Shandong Geography of Shandong Tourist attractions in Shandong {{Shandong-geo-stub