Surface Process and Land Use
YAN Luobin, HUANG Cheng, LI Hongwei, ZHANG Ke, YUAN Wanming, TIAN Yuntao, QI Deli
Danxia landscapes are a landscape feature with the Danxia landform as the main body, and are widely distributed in China. An in-depth understanding of the landscape differentiation on a national scale is essential for the protection and utilization of Danxia landscapes as tourism resource. Based on data such as lithology, cliff height, stratum attitude, rock strength, and other data, this study quantitatively analyzes the spatial pattern of Danxia landscapes. Combining these data with the understanding from an on-site survey of more than 200 Danxia landforms across the country, the differentiation of Chinese Danxia landscapes is semi-quantitatively determined. Based on multiple geologic and geomorphologic factors, the Danxia landscape in China is divided into six distinctive regions: Southeast China, the Sichuan-Chongqing-Guizhou junction, the Ordos Plateau, the southwestern Ordos Basin, "Tianshan-Qilian", and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Through the national-scale comparison of Danxia landscapes, six key characteristics are noted. The basin size of red-bed deposits and the crustal uplift and subsidence during the Himalayan movement jointly controlled the spatial distribution of the Danxia landforms, while the tectonic deformation characteristics in different regions controlled the inclination of strata. The spatial lithological differences among different types of the basins affect the slope morphology. Rock strength has little effect on cliff height, but the difference in vertical rock strength affects the slope shape, which in turn affects the geomorphological process. The landform evolution stages affect the richness of individual and group landscapes. Finally, climate influences the currently active geomorphic processes, and the combination of vegetation and landforms in different climate zones shapes different Danxia landscape features and aesthetics. Nationally, the spatial distribution of Danxia characteristics is a regional manifestation of tectonic evolution, Earth's surface environment, and other factors.