Located in the mountainous areas south of Yixing City, Jiangsu Province, Yixing potter’s clay deposit was the earliest clay mining area in China. More than 50 clay mines (ore locations) have been developed in the deposit. The major ore strata are in the Upper Devonian Wutong Formation, the Lower Carboniferous Gaolishan Formation, and the Upper Permian Longtan Formation, while minor ore strata are in the Middle Devonian Maoshan Formation and the Lower Permian Yanqiao Formation. The clay ores are most widely distributed in the Wutong Formation. The ore types include grade-A mud (purple sandy shale, a major raw material for the pottery industry), white mud, purple sandy mud, and tender mud (water-based clay with strong plasticity). The ore field is mainly depositional, and the tender mud was formed by weathering and deposition. Research reveals that clay has been mined in Yixing City for more than 5,000 years. Today, Dingshu County is a well-developed centre of the ceramic industry,...
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(2020). Yixing potter’s Clay Deposit, Jiangsu. 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_2883
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2538-0_2883
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