General points arising from analysis of the table are:1. Only 8 of the 32 properties with red bed geology were inscribed under Criterion (viii) in recognition of their important geological values, and just 3 of these 8 properties - Canaima (Venesuela), Tassili n'Ajjer (Mali) and Purnululu (Australia) - were inscribed specifically in recognition of their distinctive geomorphic features. The other 24 properties do contain red beds, but the extent of any Danxia-type geomorphic landscape is variable. Furthermore, in these latter properties, red bed geology is only a subordinate part of their general geology, and the presence of these beds is incidental to their inscription.
2. Of the 32 properties in the table, just 9 can be identified as representing an integral, discrete Danxia-type landscape system in the model of the sites forming this nomination. These sites are Grand Canyon, Dinosaur Prov. Park, Purnululu, Canaima, Three Parallel Rivers, Uluru-Kata Tjuta, Tassili n'Ajjer, Meteora, Capivara, Bamiyan Valley.
3. The 6 properties identified above each represent a single, isolated landscape occurrence, and none forms part of a series that demonstrates a sequence of evolutionary stages, as the China Danxia serial sites do.
4. The geological basis of the China Danxia are red beds from the Mesozoic era, reflecting a particular period of continental environmental conditions poorly represented in the sites listed in the table.
5. Rock lithology and structures in the China Danxia are unique and different from those exhibited in all other red bed properties. Especially important to landscape formation in the Danxia of SE China, poorly represented in other sites in the world, are the very dense networks of faults and master joints.
6. Of the 6 properties identified in 2. above, only 3 fall in the same climatic regime as the Danxia of SE China, The others occur in arid/semi-arid or Mediterranean type climates.
7. Despite the fact that 15 of the 32 red bed World Heritage properties are inscribed under aesthetic criterion (vii), just 7 are specially recognised for their distinctive red bed geomorphological scenery (Purnululu, Uluru-Kata Tjuta, Canaima, Tassili n'Ajjer, Cliffs of Bandiagara, Meteora, Mt Wuyi), and usually this element is subordinate to other values (ie, merely one component of the landscape, as in the Grand Canyon, Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan, Mt Purdu, Drakenburg Mountains, Dinosaur Provincial Park, Drakenberg Park, Kakadu NP, Canadian Rocky Mountains Parks, etc.)
8. In all red bed World Heritage properties, the association between geology and culture is utilitarian (i.e, cultures has been related to the economic, defensive or religeous value in the rock structures), whereas cultural associations with the China Danxia are much broader, emphasizing the spiritual harmony between people and nature.
