About 80 kilometers northwest of Dalanzadgad are the sediment fields Bayanzag, which belong to the Djadochta formation. You can visit them as part of a day tour. Bayanzag means “rich in Saxaul“. There are stone formations made of red sandstone, which are transformed into a glowing red sea of light in the evening sun. That is why they are called Flaming Cliffs, which means “Burning” Cliffs “. The Mongols also call Bayanzag Ulaan Ereg: red bank.
Paleontological Research and Fossils
The area is famous for spectacular fossil finds. Millions of years ago many dinosaurs lived here, including Velociraptor, Tyrannosaurus, Oviraptor, and Deinocheirus. Few fossils from the Cretaceous period are so well preserved in only a few places on Earth.
Bayanzag is therefore primarily considered an Eldorado for paleontologists. In 1923, researcher Roy Chapman Andrews found the world’s largest dinosaur cemetery here. For the first time, dinosaur scrim was even discovered. Until then, research did not know that the animals were laying eggs. Even today, soil erosion continues to uncover new fossils. An almost complete skeleton of the Deinocheirus mirificus excavated by Chapman Andrews stands in the Museum of Natural History in Ulan Bator and if you stand in front of it you get a feeling of how huge the animals were.
The cliffs are heavily affected by erosion. You should explore the area on your own from the vantage point over Bayanzag or from where most vehicles are parked. The light of the evening sun is of course perfect for photographers. If you walk about two kilometers from the edge of the viewpoint to the west, you have beautiful views of the opposite rock face and the lower-lying rock plateau.
The Saxual Forest
The Saxaul shrub (Haloxylon ammodendron) grows up to a new meter on the sparse grass steppe and has adapted perfectly to life in the arid desert. It has very small leaves, its trunk is mostly twisted and its roots go deep, but also spread out. So it can survive long dry periods. It is now under strict protection, on the one hand, to prevent soil erosion, on the other hand, because it was cut down by the nomads and as
Fuel served. However, since the bushes grow very slowly under extreme conditions, the stocks were endangered in the long run because not as many bushes could grow as were cut. There are saxaul bushes in several places, but only here in such a high density that it almost looks like a forest. If you walk a little further than most tourists into the rock formations, with a little luck you can find spearheads and flints.
