Yanshan, Gaoshan——Two Active Volcanoes of the Volcanic Cluster in Arshan, Inner Mongolia

The volcanic cluster in Arshan, Inner Mongolia, is located in the west of the middle section of the Da Hinggan Mountains. There are more than forty Cenozoic volcanoes among which the Yanshan and Gaoshan are the active ones in broad sense and basaltic central vents. Arshan is a newly found volcanic active region in the Chinese continent. The volcanoes are perfectly preserved and composed of cinder cones, pyroclastic sheets and lava flows. Their cones are grand and the Gaoshan cone is about 362m high, and the depth of the Yanshan crater is about 140m. The pyroclastic sheet is mainly made up of scoria, and the distribution area of scoria with thickness more than 1m is about 27km2. There are two Carbonized-wood sites in the pyroclastic sheet and the 14C datings indicate ages of 1990 ± 100a B. P and 1900 ±70a B. P, which are rectified by dendrodating. Basaltic lava flows are uncovered, and they change from pahoehoe in the early stage to aa in the later stage. There are lots of perfect fumarolic cones, fumarolic dishes and lava tumulus in the front zones. The spread of lava flow is controlled by the local topography and its main body flowed northwestwards covering the Holocene rivers and swamp deposits and blocked up the Halahahe river and its branches to create six lava-dam lakes. For these distinguishing features, Arshan volcanic cluster could be called another natural Volcano Museum.