Basalt is a common basic extrusive rock with a greyish black colour that occurs in the form of fine-grained blocks. It often has a porous structure filled with calcite, zeolite and other minerals. The common minerals are olivine, pyroxene, and mafic plagioclase. The grains are usually cryptocrystalline and have a glassy matrix. Based on the chemical composition and mineral content, basalts can be divided into tholeiitic basalts and alkali basalts. Basalts have been formed in different geologic periods, such as the Permian basalt of Emeishan Mountain in Sichuan Province. However, the basalts with greater geologic landscape and tourism value are mainly Neogene basalts, such as the basalts in Zhangzhou in Fujian Province, Liuhe in Nanjing and Penghu in Taiwan. These basalts were all formed during Miocene volcanic eruptions. The basalts of the Wudalianchi and Haikou volcanoes were formed during Quaternary and Holocene volcanic eruptions. The columnar joints and lava landscapes of basalt...
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(2020). Basalt. In: Chen, A., Ng, Y., Zhang, E., Tian, M. (eds) Dictionary of Geotourism. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2538-0_130
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