PHYSIOGRAPHY OF SHAN-TUNG. vie; 
genetically connected. One such chain of heights extends along the 
northern side of the W6n-ho valley, and being dominated by its prin- 
cipal peak, the T’ai-shan, has been called the T’ai-shan chain. Another 
lies southwest of the Siau-w6n-ho and Tung-w6én-ho, and is called by von 
Richthofen the Shi-mén-shan and Kiu-nii-shan. These lie respectively 
not far from the northwestern and southwestern margins of the mountain 
region, and enclose between them a V, within which the arrangement of 
heights is less orderly. 
In general the mountains present wild and picturesque forms. As 
they vary in constitution, some being of gneiss or granite and others of 
stratified rocks, they are unlike in details, some having step-like profiles, 
others rising irregularly to acute pinnacles; but they are almost without 
exception steep, narrow, and deeply dissected. They might be termed 
mountain skeletons. 
These forms are brought out in the topographic maps of the Ch’ang-hia 
and Sin-t’ai districts already referred to, but the T’ai-shan itself may be 
cited as a characteristic example. The summit is a wide crescent, its 
points turned toward the south. Its northern slope is precipitous, and 
ragged spurs extend from it like flying buttresses. Within the southern 
crescent are deep canyons, whose heads are sunk far into the heart of the 
mountain, and between them are sharp and narrow spurs. ‘The crescentic 
crest itself is deeply gashed. The whole mountain mass has been reduced 
to a wall, which is crowned by pinnacles that stand like towers of a ruined 
castle. 
INFLUENCE OF NORMAL FAULTING. 
In the section on structural geology it has been stated that the central 
mountain region of Shan-tung is traversed by many normal faults, which 
cut through all the rocks of the region and undoubtedly produced features 
of relief at the surface, probably of a mountainous character. The date 
assigned to that faulting, partly on physiographic grounds, is late Cretaceous 
or Eocene. The degree to which the valley system and the mountain 
ranges that then developed still exist is of interest in its bearing on 
general problems of erosion. 
In discussing the rate of faulting, the relation of rivers to structure 
was considered. The valleys of the W6n-ho, Siau-w6n-ho, and Tung- 
won-ho are clearly consequent, as are also the courses of many of their 
tributaries which flow from the upthrown to the downthrown block. 
Although there have been changes in the position and development of 
smaller streams, due to adjustment, it is true that the courses of the 
master streams were determined by the faulting. 
