Will Jiuzhaigou disappear after the Sichuan earthquake?

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A magnitude-7.0 earthquake jolted Jiuzhaigou County in southwest China's Sichuan Province at 9:19 p.m. BJT on August 8, causing grave destruction.

Jiuzhaigou is one of the most popular tourist spots in China, however the quake left nothing but rubble.

Many brightly-colored mountains and lakes have ceased to exist. Nuorilang Waterfall, previously covering an area of hundreds of meters, has disappeared, leaving a mud of pool where fresh transparent water used to flow.

It seems Jiuzhaigou is close to disappearing, but could that ever happen?

Not quite so.

The geological events that gave birth to Jiuzhaigou are too grand to be affected by a magnitude-7.0 earthquake.

Here's a look at how Jiuzhaigou came to exist.

400 million years ago

Jiuzhaigou was a shallow sea, with limpid water warmed by the sun. A plentiful of now extinct plants and animals lived and multiplied in its shallow waters.

Jiuzhaigou used to be a shallow sea. /Xingqiuyanjiusuo Photo

Calcium accumulated slowly and was deposited on the seabed in the form of carbonate rocks with a thickness of 4,000 meters.

This will be the most essential material for bringing back the charming beauty of Jiuzhaigou in the near future.

65 million years ago

The Tibetan Plateau was formed as a result of a continental collision between the Indian Plate and the Eurasian Plate.

33 million years ago

The eastern edge of Tibetan Plateau reached 3,000 meters. One plateau covered with thick carbonate rocks was created, which will be the precursor of Jiuzhaigou.

One mountain covered with a thick carbonate rock was created. This will be the precursor of Jiuzhaigou. /Xingqiuyanjiusuo Photo

26 million years ago

The glacial period meant a sharp drop of global temperatures. Plenty of extensive mountain glaciers were formed around the Jiuzhaigou plateau, turning previous mountains into steep-sided ridges.

The glacier turned mountains into steep-sided ridges. /Xingqiuyanjiusuo Photo

700,000 years ago

The second glacial period transformed mountains into U-shaped valleys, and many important valleys in today's Jiuzhaigou were created during this period.

The second glacial period transformed plain mountains into U shaped valleys. /Xingqiuyanjiusuo Photo

230,000 years ago

The melted glaciers left cirques on the mountains. The lake water was extremely dark, making the cirque lakes pitch-black under sunlight.

The lake water was extremely dark that made the cirque lakes pitch-dark under sunlight. /Xingqiuyanjiusuo Photo

Many moraine lakes were formed at the low-altitude ravines, including the most famed lake in Jiuzhaigou, Changhai, whose capacity can reach up to 46 million cubic meters.

160,000 years ago

With the third glacial period, the valleys deepened and widened. The mud and stone flows resulting from the formation of these ravines blocked the rivers that contributed to the formation of lakes. The most beautiful lake in Jiuzhaigou, the Five Flower Lake, was formed during this period.

The Five Flowers Lake in Jiuzhaigou /Xingqiuyanjiusuo Photo

Water was a major cause for many of the splendid views in the region.

The abundant rainfall destroyed the layers covered by the carbonate rocks, leaving a powerful underground water system.

The water not only supplied abundant resources for the survival of lakes, it also brought indispensable element - calcium. The water dissolved the calcium in carbonate rocks, forming a deposit, calcareous sinter (calc-sinter), that accumulated on rocks, lake beds and even trees that fell in water.

Water also brought indispensable element- calcium. /Xingqiuyanjiusuo Photo

10,000 years ago

Calc-sinter accumulated, separating rivers into different parts. It also created a new landscape, Shu Zheng Qun Hai, which is famed for 23 connected little lakes with a length of over 600 meters.

Calc-sinter accumulated separating rivers into different parts. /Xingqiuyanjiusuo Photo

To a great extent, the colorful deposit made Jiuzhaigou more stunning. Cal-sinter presents various colors according to the different microbial populations growing on their surfaces.

49 years ago

Extensive logging took place until 1979, when the Chinese government banned such activity and made the area a national park in 1982. The site was inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1992 and a World Biosphere Reserve in 1997.

Jiuzhaigou. /Xingqiuyanjiusuo Photo

Today

After 400 million years of growth, destruction, and creation, Jiuzhaigou has been reborn continuously.

Jiuzhaigou. /Xingqiuyanjiusuo Photo‍

One earthquake might cause damage, but it won't destroy the beauty of the region. Some views may disappear, but others are created at the same time. Jiuzhaigou is in constant state of change, but its purity is unalterable.

(CGTN is authorized to reproduce this report with permission from Xingqiuyanjiusuo.)

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