The seabed ruins. (Photo/CNS)

The seabed ruins. (Photo/CNS)

A Chinese expedition team discovered some 100 million-year-old seabed ruins 18 kilometers away from the Kanas Lake in northwest China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region, the local government disclosed on July 28.

The ancient seabed ruins were located in the middle part of the Altay Mountains, 2,500 meters above sea level. As they are far away from the pastoral, the surrounding ecological environment has been well protected.

According to Wang Feiteng, a researcher in Chinese Academy of Sciences and member of the expedition team, the remains of the ancient seabed are the typical marine sedimentary rocks dating back 100 million years ago. With the movement of tectonic plates, Altai Mountains uplifted gradually. Then the glaciers retreated as the climate became warmer. A large number of submarine sedimentary rocks gradually were destroyed by glaciation. The remains of the seabed are just located in a valley of a glacier ridge, an area less affected by the force of glaciers, so the remains have been perfectly maintained. The discovery is important to the study of the Quaternary Glacier as well as the forming and evolution of the Altay Mountains.