Modern floodplain with outcrops of Carboniferous coal beds in the Tuolai Mountain, Qinghai Province, NW China

The colors in the image are vivid. The lower part features the Tuolai River jade stone ditch wetland, which is situated at an altitude of over 3,800 meters. Within a single day in July, there is a significant variation in the amount of glacial meltwater received, with a relatively low flow rate that allows gravel to disperse freely across the wetland. The central part shows an outcrop of coal-bearing strata, with significant reverse faulting and fold deformation. In the distance above is Tuolai Mountain, located above the snow line, grand and magnificent.
The Qilian Mountains are known as the Alps of the East. This area belongs to a branch of the Qilian Mountains, specifically the central section of Tuolai Mountain. I conducted geological mapping here from 2010 to 2016. This photo was taken during a return visit in 2021.