Baigong pipes
Pipe-like features found on and near Mount Baigong
The Baigong pipes, which are also known as 白公山铁管 (BaiGongShan Iron Pipes) and Delingha pipes, are a series of pipe-like fossilized tree roots found on and near White Mountain (Chinese: 白公山; pinyin: Báigōngshān 'Mount Baigong'), about 40 kilometers (25 mi) southwest of the city of Delingha, in the Haixi Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, China.
White Mountain (白公山)
Some of the Baigong pipes are reported to be associated with three caves in White Mountain. These caves are reported to occur within the front face of White Mountain. The mouths of the two smaller caves have collapsed. Only the largest cave, which is 6 meters (18 feet) high, can be entered.
Two pipe-like structures have been reported from the largest cave. One of these is described as being 40 cm (16 in) in diameter and there are more along a nearby salt lake, where similar formations were found on shore and within Tuosu Lake, also transliterated as Lake Toson, which lies 80 meters (260 feet) from the mouth of the largest cave. On the beach of the lake, about 80 meters (130 feet) from the mouth of the largest cave, more pipes were found.
Investigation
Associated with these pipe-like features are objects that were described as "rusty scraps" and "strangely shaped stones". Analysis of the former by Liu Shaolin at a local smeltery reportedly found that they consist of 30 percent ferric oxide (oxidized iron) and large amounts of silicon dioxide and calcium oxide.
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