Ha Long Bay: How was this unique natural wonder of Vietnam formed?
Vietnam is a country rich in heritage. From their unique New Year celebration Tet and the national costume ao dai to the fascinating floating markets, delicious dishes like pho and beautiful beaches, this country has a lot to offer. Take the Ha long Bay for example. This popular travel destination is located in the Quang Ninh Province. Although it is co-owned by Ha Long City and Cam Pha City, it actually falls under the district of Van Don. This unique natural formation is an exotic geographical wonder for sure.
The formation
First things first. Do you know what a karst is? Well, it refers to a type of land formation, usually with many caves, formed through the dissolving of limestone by underground drainage. And turns out, Ha Long Bay is the world’s first and largest example, with more than 3000 karsts of various shapes and sizes. It was eventually turned into an island and is now used as a bay. If you look at the picture of Ha Long Bay, you will feel like it is jutting out from an emerald sea. In fact, it stands at the centre of two other bays in the region, Bai Tu Long Bay to the northeast and Cat Ba Island in the southwest.
Experts suggest that the karsts and isles were formed due to 500 million years of changing geographical conditions. The more the climate turned into a tropical wet one, the better they developed. They also state that Ha Long Bay is the prime example of the Earth’s original limestone karstic geomorphic features. Not only karst, the region has also been exposed to volcanic activity during which carbonate sediments from corals, fishes, and other marine animals were left behind. The deposits eventually formed the bay that is now full of silica, phosphate, petroleum, lignite, quartz, and hydrothermal mercury. As for the major karstic landforms that form the Ha Long Bay, they include cone-shaped hills or fengcong, isolated high limestone karst towers called fenglin, and remnants of karstic caves. Geologists conclude, Ha Long Bay was not formed at once, but was a result of five cycles of marine and continental evolution.
Legend behind the name
Are you wondering what Ha Long means? It refers to ‘descending dragon’. As you can probably guess, the name has quite a story behind it. Legends suggest that in earlier times, Vietnam was often attacked by foreign invaders. According to Vietnamese myth, the Gods sent a group of dragons to protect them from potential enemies. These dragons used to spit out jewels and jade, to form a barrier against the invaders. But wait, the tale doesn’t end here. Turns out, they also magically brought down rock mountains on the country, whenever rival ships tried to enter. Eventually, when the dragons went on to win many battles on behalf of the Vietnamese, they decided to stay back on Earth. Where the leader (or the mother) dragon descended became Ha Long, while the children landed on Bai Tu Long and spent their leisure time on Cat Ba. Interestingly, Ha Long first came to the attention in late 19th century, thanks to French explorers.
Flora & fauna
The biodiversity of Ha Long Bay is as amazing as it can get and is full of various marine and land animals, including 14 endemic floral species and 60 endemic fauna species. Some notable examples include cheeky monkeys, oysters, cuttlefishes, magnolia flower, salt marshes, fighting cocks and bantams.