Study On The Extension Of Huangshan UNESCO Global Geopark

Huangshan UNESCO Global Geopark is going to face its 4th revalidation 2020.Based on the Operational Guidelines for UNESCO Global Geoparks and the feedback of the 3rd revalidation——Clarity should be provided on the differences between the Geopark boundary and that of the World Heritage Site,Huangshan UNESCO Global Geopark needs to expand its territory before this revalidation.In order to accomplish this project,our team carried out the geoheritage investigation,visited the communities and did questionnaire around the Huangshan UNESCO Global Geopark.Five towns and one site around the Huangshan UNESCO Global Geopark are chosen as the main investigation area for the geoheritage survey.According to the survey,we found 1 geoheritage site of international significance,1 national,and more than 20 provincial geoheritage sites.Among these,the geoheritage site of international significance is a stratigraphic section of cap carbonates located in the Niejiashan area,east of Huangshan.This stratigraphic section is thicker and more complete than many other sections.It is a marker of a global frozen event which is called "the snowball earth".The national geoheritage site is the fault zone located in the Tangkou Town,east of Huangshan.It reflects the tectonic movement of the lower Yangtze plate in southern Anhui during Himalayan movement.As for the community polls,we choose two towns near the Huangshan UNESCO Global Geopark——Tanjiaqiao Town and Tangkou Town.Through the comparison of the questionnaire survey,we found that Tangkou Town,as the south gate of the Huangshan,has the better infrastructures and is higher dependence on tourism.Tanjiaqiao Town,although as the east gate of the Huangshan,is rarely benefited from tourism and geopark,but the local people are eager to get change the present situation.After considering the geoheritage distribution,the poll of the communities,the policies of the local government and the ecological environment pressure and so on,the author compares the two alternatives,analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of the Tanjiaqiao Town and Tangkou Town,and eventually believe that the Tanjiaqiao Town is the better area for the extension of the Huangshan UNESCO Global Geopark.