Riverside Karst Cliffs
Looking at part of the riverbank during a leisurely tourist boat trip down the Li River near Guilin in the summer of 1984. Rugged limestone cliffs in the left-background contrast with what might at first glance appear to be a camouflaged Nazi Atlantic Wall gun embrasure c.1944 behind verdant foliage in the right-foreground. But this is an example of how the rock has fractured along straight-line bedding planes, perhaps being undermined water flowing along its foot at some undetermined time in the past. The resulting rubble on which the large fronded trees, bushes and other vegetation are sitting at the base of the cliff appears to show good examples of angular blocks that subsequently have probably fallen directly from the cliffs above. A possible cave and balcony railing(?) are above and to the left of the 'gun position'.
Karst topography is a landscape shaped by the dissolution of a layer or layers of soluble bedrock, usually carbonate types such as limestone or dolomite. Subterranean rivers, cave systems and extravagant surface deformation due to weathering (all found along the Li River) are examples of some of the features found in karst scenery.
South China Karst, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of the world’s most spectacular examples of humid tropical to sub-tropical karst landscapes. It is a serial site spread over the provinces of Guizhou, Guangxi, Yunnan and Chongqing and covers 176,228 hectares. It contains the most significant types of karst landforms, including tower karst, pinnacle karst and cone karst formations, along with other spectacular characteristics such as natural bridges, gorges and large cave systems. The Guilin Karst component in Guangxi province is located within Lijiang National Park and contains fenglin (tower) and fengcong (cone) karst formations.
Scanned from a negative.
Riverside Karst Cliffs
Looking at part of the riverbank during a leisurely tourist boat trip down the Li River near Guilin in the summer of 1984. Rugged limestone cliffs in the left-background contrast with what might at first glance appear to be a camouflaged Nazi Atlantic Wall gun embrasure c.1944 behind verdant foliage in the right-foreground. But this is an example of how the rock has fractured along straight-line bedding planes, perhaps being undermined water flowing along its foot at some undetermined time in the past. The resulting rubble on which the large fronded trees, bushes and other vegetation are sitting at the base of the cliff appears to show good examples of angular blocks that subsequently have probably fallen directly from the cliffs above. A possible cave and balcony railing(?) are above and to the left of the 'gun position'.
Karst topography is a landscape shaped by the dissolution of a layer or layers of soluble bedrock, usually carbonate types such as limestone or dolomite. Subterranean rivers, cave systems and extravagant surface deformation due to weathering (all found along the Li River) are examples of some of the features found in karst scenery.
South China Karst, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of the world’s most spectacular examples of humid tropical to sub-tropical karst landscapes. It is a serial site spread over the provinces of Guizhou, Guangxi, Yunnan and Chongqing and covers 176,228 hectares. It contains the most significant types of karst landforms, including tower karst, pinnacle karst and cone karst formations, along with other spectacular characteristics such as natural bridges, gorges and large cave systems. The Guilin Karst component in Guangxi province is located within Lijiang National Park and contains fenglin (tower) and fengcong (cone) karst formations.
Scanned from a negative.