Northern and Southern Ninepins With Professor Chan Lung-sang 陳龍生教授
The Ninepin and Waglan Islands are the eastern-most islands in Hong Kong waters. Fabulous rock columns that formed 140 million years ago are exposed on the Ninepin Islands, a core area in the Hong Kong Geopark. The polygonal rock columns represent one of the few geological localities in the world where rock columns developed from cooling and contraction of volcanic ash. Remarkable features observed on the Ninepins include a giant rock slide and columns that have toppled and pointed sideways.
We will first land on the Northern Ninepin Island, take a short hike to view the hauntingly beautiful landscape on the island and learn about the geological formations. Boarding the boat once again, we then make another landing on Southern Ninepin Island.
Afterwards we will have a simple lunch on the boat while sailing towards Waglan Island. We’ll cruise around Waglan Island, viewing one of the oldest lighthouses and declared monuments in Hong Kong from our boat. In addition, we will observe some interesting sea arches and coastal features before returning to Central by about 17:00.
In case of adverse weather conditions or unfavourably high winds, we may have to modify or cancel the trip at the leader’s discretion.
Resource Person
We are very privileged to have Professor Chan Lung-sang (陳龍生教授) as the leader of the trip. Professor Chan is professor in Earth Sciences at the University of Hong Kong as well as College Principal of HKU SPACE Community College and HKU SPACE Po Leung Kuk Community College. He received his doctorate degree in geology from the University of California, Berkeley and is arguably the first Hong Kong native to receive formal training in geology. His research interests include tectonics of South China and Hong Kong, earthquake geology and applied geophysics. He is devoted to promoting Earth Science education, and has led field trips to South China, Tibet, Taiwan, North America, Australia, Italy, Cyprus, the Arctic region and Antarctica for students.