Danzhou Stone-flower Water Cavern Geological Park

5 min read

Hainan Stone-flower Water Cavern Geological Park is located at the foot of Yingdao Mountain，Danzhou County，28 kilometers away from Danzhou downtown，and 160 kilometers away from Haikou City，but the traffic is very convenient.It’s the first provincial geological park in Hainan Province.Stone-flower Water Cavern scenic area is part of the geo-park，and lies in the core reserve.With a total length of 5 kilometers，its dry cavern is 2 kilometers long，and water cavern 3 kilometers.Because of the complex structure and the growth of secondary chemical sediment，there are only 550 meters opened for visiting，which needs 40-50 minutes.In order to protect the scenery，especially geological and biological sights，and keep the resources sustainable，please pay attention to hygiene and environmental protection.Smoking is not allowed here.Do not touch and knock the stone.Follow me，and catch up with our team.Thank you for your cooperation！

Stone-flower Water Cavern is winding，and its width ranges from 2m to 10m，and the water is deep，ranging from 3m to 17m.It has not been completely exploited，but we can visit the watercourse by boat.After landing，you would be amazingly finding so many cave wonders just within 300 meters.

You may want to ask how the Stone-flower Water Cavern was discovered.Let me tell you about the legendary establishment and development.Yingdao Mountain，where the scenic spot locates，had been mining for lime stones since the 1950s.It was in 1985 when the cavern was found；soon the government closed the cavern.In 2000，the responsible companies invited Guilin Karst Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Sciences to do researches and plan a tour.After five-year protective exploration，the Stone-flower Water Cavern didn’t open to the public until the National Day of 2005.

The experts of Chinese Karst Cave Institution had proved that the Stone-flower Cavern has been formed in Cambrian geological time，about 1.4 million years ago.The wonders result from comprehensive factors，mainly by the sediment of calcium carbonate in the running water.In the cavern，the average temperature is about 13C all year round. The water on the palisades containing materials like limes tones will form several of views through chemical reactions. The stones before us need more than 10,000 years to take shape, so the Stone-flower Water Cavern is extremely worthy in science researches and aesthetic value.

Perhaps you have been to some places like Guilin, and have seen many caves before. But the Stone-flower Water Cavern is different from others because of its miraculous formation. The cavern was studied and decided by the experts of Chinese Karst Cave Institution; especially 7 geologists in Nanjing University had reached a consensus. The Stone-flower Water Cavern is formed by bottom-up vapor, on the contrary, the other caverns are formed by top-down drops. It is the forming principles make the cavern emerge rare view in the world. There are lots of geological landscapes in the cavern, such as stalactite, stalagmite, stone pillar, stone waterfall, helictite, aragonite flowers, and calcite crystal flower and so on. It’s miraculous at three species, namely the helictite, aragonite flower and calcite crystal flower.

As it is called Stone-flower Water Cavern, of course it’s famous for the stone flowers. The shape of stone flowers is different from the stalagmite andstone waterfalletc. It was formed by the sediment of infiltration water, splash water and capillary water. Stone flowers have to spend almost a hundred years to grow 1 centimeter. Please look up,a thin wall made of stone-flowers lies across in mid-air, and looks like the bridge of magpies. The 7th day of the lunar 7th month is the only day on which Cowherd and the Weaving Maid could meet. To help them become eventual lovers,a bridge full of love has been finished here.

This is the singular helictite. Growing along the cavern wall, some of them appear like corals or bean sprouts. Not limited by gravity, the petals of the stone flower grow curl freely. The major factors are rock property and hydrological conditions, and hydrological conditions concern with climate and temperature. Whether it is related to wind still needs further study. The helictite has only been found in a few countries, America, Romania, China, etc. In China’s case, its growth requires a very humid environment. Once the condition is broken, the helictite will stop growing.

Except stone flowers and helictite, there are fantastic calcite crystal flowers. The name calcite is originated from Latin, and means lime, because it contains chemical compositions CaCO3, CaO and some Mn and Fe. It exists in many kinds of rocks, for example, lime stones and marbles. The calcite has two variants. One is ice measuring stone, shaped large crystal, colored transparent or golden yellow, and it has obvious double refraction phenomenon. The other one is aragonite, the brother of calcite. They are the same in essence but different in appearance.

Once talking about aragonite, we can’t miss the aragonite flowers. It is crystallized by the aragonite formed by ground water sediment, calcite and aragonite, under a complicated condition. Aragonite flowers scatter on the upper part in the cavern, and its leaves are as thin as hairs, with a great amount, some part appearing spun silk shape. It looks like flowers blossom on the whole Sometimes, the aragonite flowers grow with the grape-shaped stone flowers. It’s a chemical precipitation form of great ornamental value and rare sediment in the cavern.

Look at the amazing scene, we can’ t help ourselves to adore the nature’s creation. In the Stone-flower Water Cavern, we can enjoy the sight of three kinds of rocks on the surface of the earth, sedimentary rock, igneous rock andmetamorphic rocks. The treasures have gone through a long history of millions of years. Apart from appreciating them, what we need to do is try to protect them. Therefore, here, we advocate each tourist to just appreciate their beauty and never let the precious treasure get damaged.

Owing to the flow of water corrodes and carves the limestone, the stones become so lifelike. Water is the natural sculptor here. When you enter the cavern，what first comes into sight is a god of longevity benediction.Look from afar，it looks like an amiable old man sending his blessings to every tourist.Look over here，a picture composed of stone curtain，named elephant playing with water.It’s entirely made by the nature.But please pay attention.Due to lack of protection during exploration，the elephant trunk has been ruined，thus please be careful.See！A south sea turtle is raising his head and facing the sea Doesn’t it look like a real one？It’s said that a thousand-year turtle couldspeak，and a ten-thousand-year turtle could even dance and sing.So people say touching his head makes one live a hundred years，but if you don’t，you can live longer.To protect the rocks，we’d better choose to live longer，right？

Except the above，there are special aquatic creature giant salamanders inthe cavern.The giant salamander is the biggest in size and most precious amphibian still existing in the world.Its yell sounds like a baby’s crying，so people also called them”baby fish”.Giant salamander is the national seconc grade protection aquatic wild animal，and the wild animal genes protection variety.Hence，the giant salamanders here are only for sightseeing，to improve people’s protection awareness of them and other rare plants and animals.