During the development and evolution of the earth, due to the comprehensive factors such as climate change, there have been three major ice ages: late Precambrian, Carboniferous-Permian and Quaternary Ice Age.

In every long ice age, the earth is always covered with ice and snow. After many years, the earth warms and the ice and snow begin to melt, forming flowing glaciers.

These glaciers have produced great cutting force in the process of flowing, which has had a far-reaching impact on the earth's surface and formed a unique topography.

According to experts' calculations, the latest ice age occurred in the Quaternary two or three million years ago, so this ice age is called "Quaternary Glacier".

Many countries in Europe and America have discovered Quaternary glacial remains, but the geological research in China started later than in Europe and America. Before this, some European and American experts also visited our country, but they tasted it, and then arbitrarily concluded that there were no Quaternary glaciers in China.

This so-called "final conclusion", led by European and American countries, has been publicly recorded in the history of world geology.

Is there really no Quaternary glacier in China? Li Siguang, a famous geologist in China, never believed what it was! He has a famous saying:

Li Siguang has been pursuing truth all his life, not only books, but also honesty, and seeking truth from facts is always his criterion. On the road of scientific research, he is never bound by the existing viewpoints and theories, but explores the truth and the world that have not been mastered according to the law.

Some people say that human beings know very little about the world, maybe only a few percent or even less. From this perspective, it is more valuable to explore the unknown world.

Li Siguang has always been skeptical about the foreigner's "conclusion" that there are no Quaternary glaciers in China, because this "conclusion" is only theoretical inference and lacks necessary practical verification.

Li Siguang is well aware that if we want to overturn the so-called "conclusion" of European and American experts, we must have strong evidence. Therefore, in the process of geological research, he paid special attention to collecting all aspects of historical materials and physical evidence.

192 1 In the spring of, Li Siguang took some students to Shahe County, Xingtai, Hebei Province for geological practice.

One day, when they were crossing the Shahe Basin, they saw a low hill in the distance. When they approached, they found some strange stones here, some like watermelons, some like millstones, some with obvious polished surfaces and some vague scratches.

At this moment, Li Siguang lost in thought. Where did these stones come from? Judging from the geographical environment here, it's not like a flood, let alone rolling down from Taihang Mountain.

While Li Siguang was thinking hard, he suddenly had a brainwave and had an amazing idea. Could this be the remains of an ancient glacier?

If these stones are really glacial deposits, you can definitely find traces of glaciers on these big stones!

So Li Siguang immediately led the students to search carefully. Finally, they found three groups of very clear scratches in different directions on the surface of a semi-hidden stone. Then they found several vague scratches on the polished surface of gravel.

This is a very important discovery, which makes Li Siguang and the students extremely excited! In order to find more evidence, they began to explore more actively.

192 1 In the summer of, Li Siguang discovered an east-west valley in the southwest exit spring of Datong. This valley is about several kilometers long and its cross section is U-shaped.

Li Siguang was suddenly attracted by this magical valley, regardless of the scorching sun, plunged into the valley and began to study.

After carefully observing the structure of the valley and the scratches on the stones, Li Siguang came to the conclusion that the huge stones and pebbles with scratches in the valley were caused by glaciers, and this valley is a typical glacier U valley!

Li Siguang collected some typical samples of aragonite and brought them back to Beijing. He went to the Swedish geological expert Andisheng who was in Beijing at that time for identification.

Unexpectedly, the so-called geologist threw the specimen aside with disdain and said without looking, "German geologist Richthofen has been investigating in China for more than 30 years and found no traces of glaciers ..."

Li Siguang listened to him patiently, then pointed to the striped stone specimen he brought back and said, "Look at this deep and long stripe ..."

Andy's answer makes people very angry. He said contemptuously: "What we European and American experts have not found, you China people will never find!"

After hearing this, Li Siguang immediately stood up, took his own specimen and walked out of the door without looking back, leaving only a powerful sentence: "I will convince you!"

On May 26th, 1922, the third congress of geological society of china was held. At the meeting, Li Siguang gave a speech on "Evidence of Quaternary Glaciation in China". Although Li Siguang's speech was clear-cut, well-founded and clear-cut, Andy remained indifferent and dismissive.

In the field of geology at that time, Andy had great popularity and authority. He formed a circle of "glacier phenomenon" and held authority.

Andy's arrogant attitude led to the silence of the participants, and Li Siguang could not break through the technical barriers woven by Andy alone.

Even so, Li Siguang will not give up, on the contrary, he is more focused on the study of glaciers.

1922, he wrote a report entitled "Glacier Remains in North China in Recent Years", which was published in London, completely negating the consistent view of European and American experts that there are no glaciers in Chinese mainland, and caused an uproar in the field of geology at home and abroad.

However, Li Siguang did not stop his discovery. He wants to find more and more conclusive evidence to completely convince Andy and others.

Opportunities always favor people who are prepared and hardworking!

193 1 in the summer of, Li Siguang led Peking University students to do geological practice in Lushan Mountain, Jiangxi Province.

Su Dongpo has a poem: Looking horizontally, the ridge side peaks, and the distance is different. In the eyes of literati, Lushan Mountain is beautiful, but in the eyes of geologist Li Siguang, he has a question: How did this landform come into being?

With such questions, Li Siguang and the students launched in-depth research and investigation.

On this day, they came to a valley in Lushan Mountain. The terrain here is very prominent. The valley is flat, but the rocks on both sides are steep. There are many large and small gravels at the bottom of the valley, and there are some vague scratches on the surface.

After seeing these phenomena, Li Siguang couldn't help thinking, was there ever a glacier here?

God always gives it to those who care. A few days later, Li Siguang found a 10-foot-long boulder in Guling West Valley, lying alone in the air like a lonely hero.

After seeing this huge stone, Li Siguang's heart boiled. How similar this stone is to the one in his hometown!

The Stone of Hometown, what is this? it's a long story

Li Siguang was born in Zhangjiawan Village, Xiahuilongshan, Huanggang, Hubei. His hometown is full of rolling mountains and hills. In front of his village, there is a big flat dam, where villagers usually pile firewood and play games.

On this flat dam, a huge stone stands abruptly. It is clean and there are no stones around it. How long has it been here? Nobody knows.

When Li Siguang was seven or eight years old, he had a question in his heart: Why is there a stone here? Where did it come from?

Neither father nor grandfather could explain this problem, so they had to fool Li Siguang into saying that he fell from the sky.

After more than 30 years, it is no coincidence that a stone like his hometown was found in the scenic Lushan Mountain.

After repeated observation and careful consideration by Li Siguang, he finally put forward a clear question: Are these two stones huge stones of Quaternary glaciers? If so, they should be drifting with the glacier!

1932 Summer vacation, Li Siguang came to Lushan again and stayed here for three weeks. He goes out early and comes back late every day, and makes a field trip to every peak and valley. This time, Li Siguang got more evidence.

After the summer vacation, Li Siguang returned to the institute non-stop. He carefully analyzed and sorted out the evidence of this field investigation and came to a conclusion:

Then, he combined with the observation results in Lushan and other mountainous areas, summed up an important opinion:

China Quaternary Glacier Research, under the leadership of Li Siguang, finally found the first key to open the mysterious door!

1933165438+1October 1 1, geological society of china held the 10th annual meeting, at which Li Siguang gave a speech on the Quaternary Ice Age in the Yangtze River Basin, but foreign experts were still skeptical about the existence of the Quaternary Ice Age in China.

However, science emphasizes seeking truth from facts! In order to convince foreign experts thoroughly, with the great help of Li Siguang's good friend Ding Wenjiang, in the spring of 1934, they invited foreign geologists in China to Lushan Mountain to attend a seminar on Quaternary glacial remains.

This is the famous 1934 "Huashan Sword" against glaciers.

At that time, many foreign scholars came to China with nationalism and discrimination, and paid no attention to the intelligence of China people.

In this seminar, although Li Siguang took a clear-cut stand, quoted widely and put a large number of specimens in front of him, these foreign scholars did not change their views.

"I really can't see the coffin without tears, so I have to let you open your eyes!" Li Siguang whispered.

So Li Siguang led foreign experts to the Little Tianchi Lake in Lushan Mountain. Li Siguang pointed to the U-shaped valley under Xiaotianchi and said, "Look, this is the U-shaped valley shoveled by glacier flow!"

A foreign "expert" named De Jinri pointed to a ditch under the U-shaped valley and said, "See that ditch? This valley was washed out by running water before and has nothing to do with glaciers. "

Li Siguang immediately retorted: "Experts, please pay attention to the location of this ditch. It's not at the bottom of the valley, but above it. If this valley is washed out by running water, the valley bottom should be V-shaped. Why is it now U-shaped? "

Li Siguang sealed his throat with a sword, leaving foreign experts speechless, because he talked about the essence of the problem.

Germany and Japan were unwilling to advance, and sophistry said, "I mean, the valley bottom is very wide, which was washed out by ancient running water, and that ditch was chiseled out by today's running water."

Li Siguang sneered and asked, "Ancient flowing water can wash out a wide valley bottom, but today's flowing water can only cut out a deep ditch. May I ask why ancient running water and modern running water have such completely different results? "

Dejinri was embarrassed by Li Siguang's rhetorical question and stopped talking.

A few "arrogant" foreign experts, represented by Andy, couldn't find any reason to refute, but refused to admit defeat. The scene was so embarrassing that the debate could not continue.

Several European and American scholars began to change their attitudes in the face of conclusive facts. When Nolin saw the streaks on the limestone surface, he whispered to Li Siguang, "If in our country, this is the remains caused by glaciers."

Glip also admitted privately: "This is very similar to the glacier terrain I saw in the United States." Obviously, this has been decided, but for the sake of a "single-handed" Li Siguang, Noreen and Glip dare not take risks against the more authoritative Andy.

Li Siguang did not compromise and began to explore further.

1936 In May, Li Siguang led students to visit Huangshan Mountain, where conclusive evidence of Quaternary glaciers was found! Li Siguang was so excited that he was still excited when he got home.

In this paper, Li Siguang cited a large number of facts, refuting the "conclusion" that there are no glaciers in China. In the face of conclusive facts, the so-called foreign geological authorities have to bow their heads and give up!

After reading Li Siguang's article, Fei, an Australian expert who was teaching in China at that time, went to Huangshan for verification in person, but found nothing, so he had to ask Li Siguang to accompany him to Huangshan again and Li Siguang to help him guide the maze. Li Siguang replied gracefully.

After Fei returned from Huangshan Mountain, he immediately published an article entitled "Quaternary Glacier in China", in which he admitted: "This is an earth-shattering discovery in the history of world geology!"

After more than ten years' efforts, Li Siguang was publicly recognized by foreign scientists for the first time.

Andy, the most stubborn "foreign expert", arrived in China from Sweden. Seeing a lot of detailed information collected by Li Siguang, he shut up and had nothing to say.

After he returned to Sweden, he made a big fuss in the media, boasting about how he discovered the Quaternary glacial remains in China, but kept silent about how Li Siguang made great efforts.

But in any case, there are Quaternary glaciers in China, which is finally recognized by the world.

Li Siguang didn't stop there. He began to study the Quaternary glaciers in China from 1922. He can't remember how many times he visited Taihang Mountain, Jiuhua Mountain, Lushan Mountain and Huangshan Mountain.

1937, in that turbulent era, the first draft of Lushan Mountain in the Ice Age written by Li Siguang was difficult to complete, and his research achievements on glaciers for many years were comprehensively expounded in this book.

Li Siguang clearly pointed out that Lushan Mountain is a typical area of Quaternary glaciology in China. Lushan Mountain in the Ice Age, as a classic work of Quaternary glaciology, laid a solid theoretical and practical foundation for Quaternary glaciology in China.

"There is no royal road to science, and only those who climb along steep mountain roads can hope to reach their glorious summit." Marx this sentence, used in Li Siguang couldn't be more appropriate.