With the advent of World Earth Day, Chongqing Municipal Bureau of Planning and Natural Resources held a science popularization event themed “Cross the Ridge of Chongqing and Into Tongluo Mountain” in Tongluoshan Mine Park in Shichuan Town, Yubei District, on April 17. Led by the park’s geological science popularization staff, over 30 primary and middle school students, geoscience enthusiasts, and media workers visited the geological heritage, ecological restoration project, and disaster prevention and mitigation project at Tongluoshan Mine Park. Through the activity, they learned a lot and knew better about the planet we live on.

Children were learning geoscience in the park (Photo provided to iChongqing)

The participants visited six spots, through which the visitors would explore ecological restoration, geological heritage, geological structure, and hazards of geological disasters in the mine park.

Why is the water so green in the mine park? That's the question most frequently asked by the visitors.

The lake in the park (Photo provided to iChongqing)

According to the Park guide, the water accumulated in the mining pits is rich in calcium and magnesium and has a small number of suspended solids. As the sun illuminates the water surface, the red, orange and yellow rays of light of longer wavelengths are absorbed by the water, and the blue and green rays of shorter wavelengths are scattered to make the water surface blue-green. Also, there are algae and microorganisms in the water, so it looks like emeralds.

At spot No. 2, the ripple structure on a rock, shaped under the action of flowing water, was clearly visible, which can prove that Chongqing was under an ocean 250 million years ago. At spot No. 3, some dilute hydrochloric acid was dripped with a dropper on a limestone sample taken from the roadside, triggering a chemical reaction. The simple chemical experiment greatly amazed the children.

Children took part in the exploration activity in the park (Photo provided to iChongqing)

At the spot on the roadside to show the hazards of geological disasters such as dangerous rocks and collapses, the staff instilled the knowledge of the identification, prevention, and control of geological disasters such as landslides, collapses, and debris flows into the children. The children were very happy at the event as they learned a lot about geoscience and understood the importance of protecting the ecological environment.

Children took part in the exploration activity in the park (Photo provided to iChongqing)

According to Zhang Hai, deputy general manager of Chongqing Linkong Cultural Tourism Development Co, Tongluo Mountain, endowed with high-quality limestone, used to be the main source of building materials and stone for downtown Chongqing. The mining area was closed in 2012. There were still 41 pits of various sizes and gravel and garbage everywhere. The land of 286 hectares was severely damaged. With ecological restoration and governance for several years since 2016, the rows of pits have been turned into lakes of changeable green shades. Tongluoshan Mine Park in Yubei District has become a popular site online and has attracted more than 500,000 tourists since it opened in June last year.

The event themed "Cherish the Earth, Harmonious Coexistence between Man and Nature" aimed to shorten the distance between the public and the ecological restoration results, arousing interest among geoscience enthusiasts and young people in exploring the knowledge of geoscience. It is planned to guide the public to establish the concept of ecological civilization and enhance their awareness of natural resources' protection to celebrate the 53rd Earth Day on April 22.