| Kanas National Geopark (Geopark) is located in Buerjin County of XinjiangUygur Autonomous Region, neighboring Kazakhstan, Russia and Mongolia in north.The geological heritages of Kanas National Geopark are various, preserved intactsystematically and distributed concentratedly. The unique features including KanasLake, Quaternary glacial landform and river bay landscape were formed under thecombined action of tectonization, glaciation and fluviation in Quaternary Period(about2million years from now), so their values on protection, sciencepopularization and tourism development are extremely high.Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is one of the regions owning abundantgeological heritage landscapes in China. Comparing with the rich resource, theconstruction of geoparks in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is very insufficient.Kanas National Geopark is the first national geopark in Xinjiang Uygur AutonomousRegion and has become the leading scenic areas of Xinjiang Uygur AutonomousRegion, with a fast tourism development momentum. However, in the fast tourismdevelopment process of Kanas, there is a problem of being unable to achieve aharmonious development among geopark protection, science popularization andtourism development, and a systematic research from the aspect of TourismGeoscience and the geopark is absent, so the sustainable development of the geoparkis seriously restrained. In consideration of this, research of Kanas National Geoparkin the thesis is of great significance for the overall and harmonious development ofKanas National Geopark, the application for the title of global geopark, promotion of geological heritages protection and construction of geoparks in Xinjiang UygurAutonomous Region, and promotion of economic development in border areas andminority areas.The thesis includes three parts and seven chapters: in the first part, the physicalgeographical and geological background of Kanas National Geopark is analyzed; inthe second part, the classification system of geological heritage landscapes isestablished, the characteristics, geneses and evolution of geological heritagelandscapes are researched in detail, and comparison analysis as well as qualitativeand quantitative evaluations for geological heritage landscapes are presented; in thethird part, a three-in-one PST development model of “protection, sciencepopularization and tourism” is established for the geopark based on the previousresearches.Through the above-mentioned systematic and comprehensive researches, thefollowing main conclusions are drawn in the thesis:(1) The geological background of formation of geological heritage landscapesin Kanas National Geopark is analyzed systematically for the first time. Thegeological heritage landscapes in Kanas National Geopark experienced two majorstages during the evolutionary process of the geological history: the first stage isPre-Quaternary Period, in which the material base and tectonic framework ofgeological heritage landscapes came into being; the second stage is QuaternaryGeological Period, in which the geological heritage landscapes were finally formed,under the joint action of neotectonics, Quaternary glaciation and fluviation.(2) Based on the latest Tourism Geoscience theories and geopark researchachievements, a classification scheme for geological heritage landscapes is proposed,and geological heritage landscapes are divided into7broad categories,26categoriesand61subcategories. By utilizing this classification scheme, the geological heritagelandscapes in Kanas National Geopark are divided into5broad categories,12categories,21subcategories and over310different scenic spots, and they are furthercombined into3categories as lake landscape, glacial landform and river landscape,within4geological heritage landscape combination zones. So a geological heritagelandscape system for Kanas National Geopark is established for the first time.(3) The lake landform, water level, water body and sediment characteristics ofthe geological heritage landscapes in Kanas National Geopark are analyzedthoroughly and systematically from the angle of geological heritage landscapes. Onthis basis, the geological conditions for formation of Kanas Lake are analyzedsystematically, and the evolution process and trend of the geological heritagelandscapes in the geopark, i.e. geologic structure-glacier-lake, are proposed for thefirst time. It is considered in the thesis that the neotectonics controlled the development and evolution of Kanas Lake throughout, the genesis of the lake wasthe disintegration of the quasi-plain of the Altai Mountains during the end ofPliocene to the beginning of Pleistocene, and the lake was finally formed in latePliocene with the molding by several times of glaciation (combined action of glacialerosion and glacial deposit) in middle Pleistocene. The development and evolutionof the lake continued: the water level decreased, the area shrank, and the currentshape was formed. The taphrogeny of the lake basin still continues today, and thelake is under further development.(4) The characteristics of glacial landform in the geopark are describedsystematically from the angle of geological heritage landscapes according to glacialerosion landform, glacial deposit landform and periglacial landform.57cirques and63glacial lakes in the geopark are analyzed and researched in a systematic way forthe first time. The formation and evolution process of Quaternary glacial landformis analyzed systematically, and Quaternary glaciation in the geopark is divided intothree stages: the third last glacial period in Middle Pleistocene; the second lastglacial period in early period of Late Pleistocene; the last glacial period (KanasGlacial Period) in end of Late Pleistocene; and the last glacial period is divided intotwo stages: the early stage and the late stage.(5) Comparison is carried out between the geological heritage landscaperesources of the geopark and those of foreign geoparks, and through the comparison,it is considered in the thesis that Kanas Lake in the geopark is the second deepestfreshwater lake in China, and Quaternary glacial landform represents the uniquegeological landscape of the Altai Mountains in Asia and is the typical example of thecontinental mountain glacial landform within the scope of the middle and highlatitudes of the world. Based on the above, an evaluation system for geologicalheritage landscapes is established for the first time from the three aspects of scientificvalue, aesthetic value and tourism development value, and qualitative and quantitativeevaluations are performed on the geopark geological heritages.93main geologicalheritage landscapes are defined in the geopark, including2world-class geologicalheritage landscapes and6national geological heritage landscapes.(6) On the basis of the deep analysis for the current development conditionsand existing problems of Kanas National Geopark as well as combining the currentdevelopment conditions of geoparks in China and the actual status of KanasNational Geopark, the three-in-one development model (PST model) of "protection,science popularization and tourism" for geoparks is proposed for the first time, andit contains3systems,10programs and6supporting measures. The three systemsare interactional and combined in an organic way. The protection is the premise, thescience popularization is the basis and the tourism development is the guarantee. |
PDF Full Text Request