Discovery of coral fossils unveils Qinling Mountains' underwater past

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Researchers have found a large number of coral fossils dating back some 350 million years in Yunxi Daliang, an important branch range of the Qinling Mountains in central China's Hubei Province, suggesting that the Qinling Mountains were once a vast sea back then.

Coral fossils found in Yunxi County, central China's Hubei Province, March 11, 2024. /CFP

The fossils of more than 10 coral species during the Devonian period, which was 419 million to 359 million years ago, covered an area of over 300-square-kilometer in the northwestern part of the county.

"All the findings suggest that the northwestern mountainous area of Yunxi was a marine reef at that time," said Zhao Bi, director of the paleontological fossil research center under the Hubei provincial academy of geological sciences.

Yunxi Daliang, where the coral fossils were unearthed, is an important branch range of the Qinling Mountains, September 30, 2021. /CFP

The Devonian period was also the most important coral reef-building period on Earth.

Yunxi Daliang, where the coral fossils were unearthed, runs from east to west between Hubei and Shaanxi provinces, with a total length of 60 kilometers, and is the geographical and climatic dividing line between the two provinces, according to Zhao.

The findings provide clues for studying the origin and evolution of the Qinling Mountains and earth science during the Devonian period.

(With input from Xinhua)