Abstract
National geoparks are studied to classify and zone Chinese geoheritage resources. The results are as follows. (1) According to ‘cause of formation–protection’ attributes, a new geoheritage classification method is proposed based on previous works. Geoheritage resources in China can be divided into seven categories based on the new classification method. Geomorphological landscape is the largest category, accounting for 68.35 %. (2) Based on geoheritage distribution, main geological features and the local characteristics of socioeconomic development, 218 national geoparks can be divided into eight districts. These districts include the desert–steppe district; dry grassland district; mountains of Northeast China and Songnen Plain district; North China Plain; Liao River Plain; mountains of Shanxi and Hebei Provinces; Liaodong Peninsula district; Shanxi and Gansu Loess Plateau district; hills and mountains of East China, middle South China and the islands district; and Sichuan Basin and hills, Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau district and alpine desert–steppe district of Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. (3) The spatial distribution of national geoparks is extensive, and geopark distribution coincides with the tectonic zone of geological structure features. Coupling relationships are obvious between spatial distributional patterns and natural and geological conditions.
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