Taibai Mountain, located at the intersection of Mei County, Baoji City, Baoji City, Taibai County, And Zhouzhi County, Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province, has been famous for its high, cold, dangerous, strange, rich and mysterious characteristics since ancient times, and is known as Huaxia. The main peak, Baxiantai, is in the eastern part of Taibai County, with an altitude of 3771.2 meters, which is the highest point of the Qinling Mountains.
For those who like outdoor sports, Taibaishan is not an unfamiliar name. Because among the top ten polar crossing routes in China's outdoors, there is one related to the Taibai Mountain - the Aotai Line.
In recent years, Taibai Mountain has always caught the public's eye, and almost nine times out of ten, it is inseparable from the "Aotai Line". Although this death line, known as the "Heavenly Road", has long been banned by the local government, there are still people who try to cross it in spite of the ban.
What exactly is there on the Aotai Line that attracts these people to take risks? Today we may wish to take a peek at the archives of Taibai Mountain, and learn more about Taibai Mountain, which may be able to get a glimpse or two.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="5" >, the origin of the name</h1>
It is said that the humanistic history of Taibai Mountain can also be traced back to a thousand years ago, as early as 1400 years ago in the Northern Wei Dynasty, there was a famous work that recorded the geography of ancient China - "Notes on the Water Classic", which recorded: "Taibai Mountain, the most beautiful in the mountains, snow in winter and summer, looking at it." From this, we can infer that the name of the snow in the Taibai Mountains should be related to snow.
But in fact, Taibai Mountain was not originally called Taibai Mountain, but "Wugong Mountain". This is clearly recorded in the main history, according to legend, King Wu of Zhou attacked Yin Shang and established the Western Zhou, dividing the princes, and at the same time, king Wu of Zhou, feeling the grace of Taibo Zen, named the highest peak of the main peak of Qinling Mountain Taibai (Taibo) Mountain, and in order to commemorate his Wenzhi martial arts, the peak on the west side of Taibai Mountain (now called Aoshan Mountain, ancient called Weeping Mountain) was named "Wugong Mountain".
Therefore, when Taibai Mountain was named "Wugong Mountain", it actually included today's Aoshan Mountain. Today, Taibai Mountain and Aoshan Mountain are only linked, the former is the first peak of Qinling Mountain, the latter is the second peak of Qinling Mountain, and there is no affiliation, and both mountains have their own small hills.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="46" > second, the formation process</h1>
During the Aurora Period, about 600 million years ago, the entire Qinling region was a vast ocean.
It was not until the Caledonian Movement, about 400 million years ago, that it began to rise and rise slowly, gradually folding into mountains, forming the prototype of the Taibai Mountains.
During the Yanshan Movement, which lasted between about 100 million and 70 million years ago, Mount Taibai rose and rose again, and acidic magma was once again immersed, further complicating the composition of the Taibai rock foundation, which was sandwiched between two large faults near the east-west direction.
Since the Cenozoic Era, which began about 70 million years ago, the sediments at the bottom of the Weihe River Valley have reached 5,000 to 6,000 meters thick, and the altitude of Taibai Mountain has risen to 3,771.2 meters, and the sedimentation and ascent have exceeded 9,000 meters.
To this day, the new tectonic movement of The Taibai Mountains, which is dominated by ascent, continues, so the summit retains some remnants of the Mesozoic Quasi-Plain and the remains of Quaternary glaciers.
Seeing this, everyone should understand that the formation of Taibai Mountain has gone through hundreds of millions of years, but it has not only not become shorter, but still grows.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="47" > third, geomorphological characteristics</h1>
The whole Taibai Mountain is divided into three landform types from bottom to top: low mountainous area, middle mountainous area and high mountainous area, so Taibai Mountain has the saying of "one calendar, four seasons and ten different days", and it is precisely because of the different forms and characteristics of Taibai Mountain that the unique geomorphological characteristics of Taibai Mountain have been created.
Low mountainous area, the altitude is between 800 and 1300 meters, the relative height difference is not large, the loess is covered, and the mountain head is round;
Zhongshan District, the altitude is between 1300 and 3000 meters, the relative drop is large, the stone peaks are lined up, the heights are mostly huge blocky rocks, and the rocks in the valley are crowded in front of and behind, overlapping and overlapping;
High mountainous area, above 3,000 meters above sea level to the peak of Taibai Mountain, here retains the remains of the Quaternary glacier, according to morphology, ice erosion landforms include ice buckets, horn peaks, and trough valleys.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="48" > climate characteristics</h1>
It is precisely because of the geomorphological characteristics that the climate of the entire mountain system of Taibai Mountain is also divided into four different climate zones:
Low mountain temperate monsoon climate zone, located between 800 and 1500 meters above sea level on the north slope, the average annual temperature is about 11 °C, the average temperature in summer is 20 ~23 °C, and the average temperature in the coldest month in winter is -7 ~-2 °C, which belongs to the temperate monsoon climate;
Zhongshan cold temperate monsoon climate zone, located between 1500 and 3000 meters above sea level, no summer throughout the year, short spring and autumn, long winter, cold and wet climate, rainy and foggy;
Alpine subarctic climate zone, located between 3000 and 3360 meters above sea level, the climate is cold and humid, the average annual temperature is -2 ~ -1 °C, and the annual precipitation is about 800 ~ 900 mm;
Alpine cold climate zone, above 3350 meters above sea level is the cold zone climate. The climate in this zone is cold and semi-humid, no autumn, long winter, the weather is abrupt, the wind is strong, and the sun radiates strongly. Sunny, cloudy, windy and rainy are changing rapidly, the fog is often swirling, and the mountains are faintly appearing.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="49" > plant distribution</h1>
Through the introduction of geomorphological characteristics and climatic characteristics, it is not difficult to find that the plant distribution of Taibai Mountain also has certain special regularities, in general, from the foot of the mountain to the top of the mountain, it can be divided into deciduous broad-leaved forest belt, coniferous forest belt, alpine shrub belt and meadow belt.
Between 780 and 1300 meters above sea level, there is a deciduous broad-leaved forest belt, mainly a cork oak forest distribution belt, which has a luxuriant canopy, a continuous cover, a straight trunk, and a competition upwards, forming a more prominent arborvitae forest layer;
Between 1300 and 1800 meters above sea level, there is a coniferous forest belt, and this sub-belt is also a region with a relatively concentrated distribution of oil pine, and the mixed forest is composed of chestnut, aspen, soap willow, goose ear oak, elm, ash catalpa, wheat bran poplar, oil pine and so on;
Between 1900 and 2300 meters above sea level, there is an alpine shrub belt, the Sub-belt is dominated by mixed forests, and Huashan pine is the most widely distributed, from artemisia temple at 1140 meters above sea level to sheep herding temple at an altitude of 3000 meters.
Between 1805 and 2750 meters above sea level, there is a sub-belt of red birch forests, and the species of trees in this sub-belt have been greatly reduced, and the absolute dominant one is red birch, and the more uphill the Pine of Huashan, the more poorly it grows, and it is only scattered sporadically;
Between 2095 and 2800 meters above sea level, there is a sub-belt of cowhide birch forests, the more upward the natural conditions here, the worse the natural conditions, the more the cowhide birch gradually increases, and above the Doumu Palace, a large area of pure forest is more concentrated, from the Doumu Palace upwards, the Bashan fir gradually increases, and some places form a mixed forest with the cowhide birch;
Between 2800 and 3200 meters above sea level, there is a sub-belt of fir forests, mainly growing Bashan fir, at an altitude of about 2800~3000 meters, there are more fragments of Bashan fir forests, scattered above the main hall, and not much is seen;
Between 3200 and 3400 meters above sea level, there is a sub-belt of larch forests, and its upper boundary is the upper limit of the distribution of forests in Taibai Mountain, and from bottom to top, there are raw grass ash soil, forest meadow soil and alpine meadow soil;
Above 3350 meters above sea level, it is an alpine scrub belt and meadow belt, which has always been under the control of the ice edge climate, the climate is cold, the air is thin, the sunlight radiation is strong, it is often windy, the evaporation is exuberant, the plant growth period is short, and the dwarf creeping shrubland, dwarf meadow, moss community, lichen community, and a small number of exposed rock surfaces are covered by microscopic algae and fungal communities.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="50" >6, animal distribution</h1>
The distribution of animals in Taibai Mountain basically coincides with the climatic zone and the plant belt, and for the survival of the fittest, the distribution of animals is roughly divided into five zones:
In warm temperate zones, the most common birds are wild ducks, herons, falcons, quails, quails, sand pheasants, spotted doves, swallows, partridges, partridges, partridges, crows, quails, etc.; the most common small mammals are rats, hares, red foxes, etc.; occasionally pig badgers, wolves and other animals are infested, but their whereabouts are uncertain;
In the lower part of the temperate and cold temperate zone, the most common birds are pheasant, cuckoo, nighthawk, woodpecker, mountain pepper bird, thrush, etc., and the beasts mainly include golden snub-nosed monkeys, giant pandas, black bears, wild boars, leopards, squirrels, etc.; as well as hemp lizards, webbed geckos, snakes, snakes, etc.;
In the upper part of the cold temperate belt, the most common birds are the red-faced blue-tailed plover, the golden forest plover, the golden-eyed warbler, the brown-headed finches, the red-bellied, the white-collared phoenix-eyebrows, the wine-scarred suzaku, the red-breasted grey finch, the red-winged whirling wall finches, etc., and the common beasts in the steep cliffs are iguanas and green sheep, as well as the black-necked snake;
In the alpine subarctic zone, the most common birds are wrens, barefoot gray finches, blue-red-tailed ibises, spiny wood birds, etc.; the mammals include antelope, which is a specialty of Qinling, in addition to a small number of rats, weasels and other small animals;
In alpine cold zones, the most common are the collared rock wren, pink-breasted wren, wren and so on. The beasts are still dominated by weasels and rabbits.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="51" > Summary:</h1>
In addition to these, The Taibai Mountains are also the boundary mountains of China's northern and southern climates, the watershed of the two major water systems of the Yellow River in the Yangtze River, and the highest peak east of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. In Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching, there are thirty-six cave heavens in the whole country, and Fengtaibai Mountain is the eleventh cave heaven, which is called Xuande Cave Heaven. At the 2018 Northwest China Tourism Marketing Conference and Tourism Equipment Exhibition, Taibaishan was also shortlisted for the list of "Magical Northwest 100 Views". It can be seen that the reason why Taibai Mountain is famous is not only because of the "Taibai June Snow", one of the eight scenic spots in Guanzhong.