The blasts only succeeded in making holes in the rocks. So the fishermen decided to try more powerful explosives. But it was at this point that some geologists arrived, bringing about a fundamental turn in the course of events.

The geologists told the fishermen that the strange rocks were geological wonders. They were a record of earthquakes that took place over 650 million years ago.

Golden Pebble Beach is littered with strangely-shaped rocks with strange names. They include “General Rock”, “Arab Castle”, and “Golden Frog Rock”. “General Rock” is said to resemble a great and proud general with a powerful body. “Arab Castle”, if seen from a distance, especially through thin layers of sea mist, looks very much like a cluster of Arab castles floating on the sea.

But how were these geological wonders formed?

When seismic waves occurred millions of years ago, semi-solid sediment was moulded into curved or near-vertical liquefied veins, as a result of the effects of oozing mud and water. This would eventually solidify to form a series of bizarre shapes.

Such rocks are particularly commonplace in Haixiao and Nanxiu Gardens. They are all soluble limestone, formed during the Sinian period around 630 million years ago. With the movement of the earth’s crust and changes of the sea level around 6,000 years ago, the deposits on the surface of the limestone were washed away. This marine erosion continued, and combined with strong physical weathering it carried on shaping the exposed rock.

In other words, Golden Pebble Beach moved towards the sea, where it was subjected to marine erosion. The rocks, under continual beating from the waves, broke up and became rough and sharp-edged. By contrast, the karst was shaped by the dissolution and erosion of the flowing water, to form a topography that was gentle in structure and relatively rounded. The coexistence of the two processes resulted in the contrasting aspects of the rocks here.

Years of marine erosion eventually created the “marine stacks” that stand upright beside the sea.

But there remain many unsolved mysteries concerning Golden Pebble Beach.

Golden Pebble Beach covers an area of nearly 90 square kilometers. Located in the eastern section of the beach, on the 8-kilometre curved coastline from Liangshui Bay to Dalinzi, are more than 60 scenic spots: “stone monkey looking to the sea”, “dinosaur exploring the sea”, “roc soaring to great heights”, “Beethoven’s profile”, “hedgehog searching for food”, “crab coming out of cave”, and so on…

The azure sky, blue sea, picturesque scenery, strange rocks, and sea breeze; this is a work of art created by Nature. Billions of years ago, Nature scattered ripe seeds where sea and sky met. As time passed, these seeds took root and burgeoned and finally assumed the magnificent form that we see today.

But how did it all come into being?

Golden Pebble Beach is, in its structure, a large recumbent fold. The horizon, which was basically formed during the Sinian period, is quite unique. Typical of northern China, marine deposits formed the stratotype sections of several stratigraphic units.

Physical weathering was another factor.

In Dalian, there are huge temperature variations among the seasons. Since rock is a poor conductor, heat expansion and cold contraction only occur on the surface. Different levels of expansion and contraction at different depths result in the fragmentation of the rock. Moreover, rock is made of coarse grain which, due to variations in its swell factor and capacity to withstand weathering, will break up when heated or cooled. The longer the exposure, the more obvious the fragmentation will be. Thus the smooth surface of a karst landform is destroyed and replaced by sharp structures.

The final mystery of Golden Pebble Beach, involves determining its landform and geology.

The first approach is visual observation.

For example, the fossils can reveal a lot.

Trilobite fossils typify the landform and geology of a certain period.