Jinfo Shan (''Golden Buddha Mountain'', Jinfoshan, Chin Shan, Jinfushan, Chin fu shan, chin fo shan, Chinese: 金佛山), the highest peak of
Dalou Mountains
The Dalou Mountains (} are a range of limestone mountains running north east to south west across the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau spanning Guizhou and Sichuan Provinces, People's Republic of China. At , Mount Jinfo (金佛山) in Nanchuan District, ...
, located in the upper reach of the
Yangtze River
The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...
, is situated in
Nanchuan District, the Municipality of
Chongqing
Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a municipality in Southwest China. The official abbreviation of the city, "" (), was approved by the State Co ...
. Jinfo Shan is an isolated mountain with cliffs up to 300 m surrounding its relatively flat top. Its major vegetation types include subtropical broadleaf forest, coniferous forests and
subalpine meadow. Besides typical
karst
Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, Dolomite (rock), dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathe ...
topography of gorges, stone forests and cave systems, Jinfo Shan is well known for its exceptional plant diversity of 4768 seed plants. The area may also be home to some of the few naturally occurring populations of ''
Ginkgo biloba
''Ginkgo biloba'', commonly known as ginkgo or gingko ( ), also known as the maidenhair tree, is a species of tree native to China. It is the last living species in the order Ginkgoales, which first appeared over 290 million years ago. Fossils ...
''.
It is also a refuge to endangered animals confined to karst regions such as
Francois' Langur (''Trachypithecus francoisi''). With its outstanding karst features and superb biodiversity, Jinfo Shan was listed as a tentative World Heritage site in 2001, and in 2014, the site was added as an extension to the
South China Karst World Heritage Site.
Geography
Mt. Jinfo is a syncline mountain. The platform and terrace are composed of Permian limestone in the upper part with about 2000m a.s.l. In the meanwhile, karst geomorphologies in large scale on the surface or underground are found. The shale and sandstone of Silurian lay in the middle of Jinfo from 1000m to 1500m asl.. The low part of Jinfo is supported by the limestone and dolomite of Cambrian and Ordovician. Plenty of small- and microforms of karst are formed in this area. There are many cliffs and gorges in Jinfo Mt., the north slope is steep and the south slope is slight. The geomorphology of the Jinfo can be divided into two types:
# Gorge in the low part of Jinfo Mt. whose elevation is about 800-1200m asl and relative height about 500m. It formed by water down cutting and eroding.
# Platform of Mid-mountain distributes the area above 1200m asl of Jinfo Mt., Bozhi Mt. and Qingba Mt.. The relative height is 500-1000m. The way of the mountain extension is identical to the tectonic line. The top of the Mts. is a relic erosional basis.
Climate
It is in the subtropical humid monsoon zone with annual mean temperature of 8.2 °C and precipitation of 1,434.5 mm on the top of the mountain.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jinfo
Mountains of Chongqing