Mid-conference field trip
Trip 1—the Mesoproterozoic microbialite profile near Guanjing Town
(1
day; free; leader: Hongxia Jiang) -- To
visit the Mesoproterozoic microbialite profile near the
Guanjing Town near Shijiazhuang. It is featured by
exquisite stromatolites, especially coniform stromatolites (Fig. 1).
Photographing and specimen collection are permitted.
Post-conference field trips
Trip 2— three Paleoproterozoic and Mesoproterozoic microbialite profiles and two Cambrian microbialite profiles near Shijiazhuang.
(3 days;
leader: Dr. Hong-Xia
Jiang) -- To visit three Paleoproterozoic and
Mesoproterozoic microbialite profiles and two
Cambrian microbialite profiles near Shijiazhuang. In
addition to columnar and conical stromatolites, there are herronic (Fig. 2),
mushroom and dendritic stromatolites (Fig. 3). Photographing and sample
collecting are permitted.
Fig.3 Cambrian dendritic stromatolites
Trip 3—Mesoproterozoic microbialite profiles in the
Jixian
(4 days; leader: Prof. Wen-Qing Pan, Senior engineer Xiu-Fen Zhai) -- To visit the Mesoproterozoic microbialite profiles in the Jixian National Geological Park. The profiles are worldwide famous, with large thickness, good exposure and exquisite structure of microbialites (Fig. 4). Robert Riding and many other scholars have studied them and published articles on them. Sampling is subject to approval.
Trip
4—Upper
Permian coral and calcisponge reefs and “microbialite” in Cili, Hunan Province,
China
(4 days; leader: Xue-Song Tian) -- To visit the world's only Permian Lepingian coral reefs (Fig. 5), calcisponge reefs (Fig. 6), mysterious and controversial P-T boundary "microbialites", the cyanobacterial mold rocks (Fig. 7) in Cili, Hunan Province. It is only 1.3 hours' drive from the famous World Natural Heritage Zhangjiajie National Park (Fig. 8). Photographing and sample collecting are permitted.
Trip 5—Granite complex at the Great Wall
(3 days; leader: Zhi-Yuan Zhang) -- To
visit the granite complex beneath the Badaling part of the worldly famous Great
Wall (Fig. 9). The rock was formed 110 million years ago. This site is a
perfect combination of geological landscape and cultural heritage. Here you can
not only watch various granite weathering landforms, but also feel the beauty
of mountains and rivers and magnificence of human culture.
Trip 6—Modern travertine and microbialites at Jiuzhaigou
(4 days; leader: Associate research fellow Hai-Long Sun) -- To visit the colorful and stunning modern travertine and microbialites at the very famous World Natural Heritage Jiuzhaigou National Geoparks (Figs. 10, 11). Sampling is subject to approval.
Trip 7—Modern coral reefs at Hainan Island
(5 days; leader: Research fellow Tian-Ran Chen) -- To visit the colorful modern coral reefs at Luhuitou, West and East Mao Islands, Sanya, Hainan Province, China (Fig. 12, 13, 14). They are excellent places to survey the interaction between modern coral reef ecosystems and environments, and marine biodiversity. Sampling is subject to approval.