Pohang Geumgwangdong Formation Cenozoic Fossil Site, National Heritage Designation Notice

Representative Cenozoic Plant Fossil Site in Korea, Excellent Academic and Symbolic Value

30 Days of Public Opinion Collection - Cultural Heritage Committee Review, Designation as Natural Monument

On the 7th, Pohang City announced that the Cultural Heritage Administration (Administrator Choi Eung-cheon) has given prior notice of designating the ‘Cenozoic fossil site of the Geumgwangdong Formation, Pohang’ as a nationally designated natural monument.

Stratigraphic cross-section of the Cenozoic fossil site in Geumgwang-dong, Pohang.

A nationally designated heritage refers to a term that will replace the existing ‘nationally designated cultural heritage’ according to the ‘Basic Act on National Heritage’ scheduled to be enforced on May 17 next year.

The ‘Cenozoic fossil site of the Geumgwangdong Formation, Pohang’ is one of Korea’s representative Cenozoic plant fossil sites. It has a high academic and symbolic value as a natural heritage because the variety of plant fossil species found there is diverse and the fossil density is very high, allowing for the understanding of the depositional environment, vegetation, and climate changes of the early Cenozoic on the Korean Peninsula.

The Geumgwangdong Formation in Geumgwang-ri, Donghae-myeon, Nam-gu, Pohang City is a small-scale sedimentary rock formation about 70 meters thick and extending over 1 km. It was formed about 20 million years ago during the expansion of the East Sea and contains layers densely populated with various species of plant fossils.

This indicates that during a period when volcanic activity was relatively weak, floating sediments such as leaves were continuously supplied and deposited under somewhat humid climatic conditions.

Plant fossil (Beech).

More than 60 species of plant fossils have been identified here, including previously unrecorded species. Among them, Metasequoia, beech, oak, birch, and maple are predominant. In particular, the coexistence of beech fossils, which currently only exist on Ulleungdo Island, and Pinus pumila, native to Japan, suggests that Japan was not yet completely separated from the Korean Peninsula at that time.

The city plans not only to stop at the designation as a natural monument but also to widely promote the value of the ‘Cenozoic fossil site of the Geumgwangdong Formation, Pohang’ and, in consultation with the Cultural Heritage Administration, establish a mid- to long-term preservation and management plan to receive annual budget support for restoration and maintenance projects.

Furthermore, the city envisions purchasing private land within the designated area to create exhibition and exploration facilities, and constructing a fossil specimen storage facility to transfer fossils excavated from the Geumgwangdong Formation, thereby planning to develop the site into a ‘green park’ and an ‘educational facility.’

The Cultural Heritage Administration and Pohang City will collect opinions during the 30-day prior notice period regarding the ‘Cenozoic fossil site of the Geumgwangdong Formation, Pohang’ and, after deliberation by the Cultural Heritage Committee, designate it as a natural monument.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.