The geomorphological origin of Jinjiang City belongs to the compound graben horst structure. In the section where the NE main fault passes, the landform is characterized by erosion and denudation terraces and fault block hills. Coastal fault in the east, fault block uplift in the east, and strip-shaped low hills; The fault blocks in the west are descending, and the terrain is relatively low and flat, and they are also distributed in strips. The NE-trending landform belt is cut by the NW-trending fault with high activity, and a fault depression area is formed under tensile stress, which becomes the space for the development of accumulated landforms, so the larger accumulated landforms are also NW-trending. Graben mostly forms plains and plateaus, and horst forms hills or residual hills.
The terrain slopes from northwest to southeast. Zimao Mountain, located at the junction of Jin carp and Jin carp on the northwest edge of the city, is the highest terrain in Jinjiang City, with an altitude of 5 17.8 meters. Therefore, the terrain is declining towards Quanzhou Bay, Taiwan Province Strait and Weitou 'ao, and tends to tilt from northwest to southeast coast. Terraces, plains and hills are the main types of landforms, and terraces account for 67.3% of the city's area. The coast is tortuous, with many harbors and islands and reefs. The coastline is long 1 10 km, and there are many islands and reefs near the mainland, with large beach area and vast shallow sea. Jinjiang city is surrounded by the sea on three sides, and the coast is controlled by fault structures. Coastline trends are mainly northeast-southwest and northwest-southeast. The former is open, strongly influenced by wind, waves and coastal currents, with rocky and sandy coast, narrow intertidal zone and rocky beaches; The latter bay goes deep into the mainland, with obvious accumulation, muddy coast and wide beach surface. Except Jinjiang River and Jiujiuxi River, all other rivers in Jinjiang City originate from hills and terraces in the county, and their sources are short, and they enter the sea independently to the east and south respectively. The river is shallow and narrow, and the density of river network is high. The seasonal variation of discharge and water level is obvious. In spring and summer, streams have a large amount of water and the water level rises, which is a wet season. Especially in July-September, affected by typhoons, the flow and water level skyrocket, and most of them are cut off in dry season.
Among the lakes in Jinjiang City, Longhu Lake and Qihu Lake are the two largest freshwater lakes in China and the famous freshwater lakes in Fujian Province.
Jinjiang City is poor in groundwater resources and good in water quality.