Dilemma of Geoconservation of Monogenetic Volcanic Sites under Fast Urbanization and Infrastructure Developments with Special Relevance to the Auckland Volcanic Field, New Zealand

Abstract

Geoheritage is an important aspect in developing workable strategies for natural hazard resilience. This is reflected in the UNESCO IGCP Project (# 692. Geoheritage for Geohazard Resilience) that continues to successfully develop global awareness of the multifaced aspects of geoheritage research. Geohazards form a great variety of natural phenomena that should be properly identified, and their importance communicated to all levels of society. This is especially the case in urban areas such as Auckland. The largest socio-economic urban center in New Zealand, Auckland faces potential volcanic hazards as it sits on an active Quaternary monogenetic volcanic field. Individual volcanic geosites of young eruptive products are considered to form the foundation of community outreach demonstrating causes and consequences of volcanism associated volcanism. However, in recent decades, rapid urban development has increased demand for raw materials and encroached on natural sites which would be ideal for such outreach. The dramatic loss of volcanic geoheritage of Auckland is alarming. Here we demonstrate that abandoned quarry sites (e.g., Wiri Mountain) could be used as key locations to serve these goals. We contrast the reality that Auckland sites are underutilized and fast diminishing, with positive examples known from similar but older volcanic regions, such as the Mio/Pliocene Bakony–Balaton UNESCO Global Geopark in Hungary.

Characterisation and Evaluation of Columnar Basalt Geoheriatge in Thailand: Implication for Geotourism Management in Post-Quarrying Area

“…According to the strength, the basalt terrain in Buriram was exploded for rock quarry for construction in the past. Thus, this area is the post-mining area that should be developed for a good environment and better livelihood of local people nowadays, similar to basalt quarrying sites in England, France, New Zealand, Poland and Spain as well as Su Nuraxi di Barumini, the World Heritage Site in Italy (Maria Mateos et al 2011, Migoń, Pijet-Migoń 2016, Prosser 2018, Careddu, Grillo 2019, Comentale 2019, Nemeth et al 2021. Many undergraduate students from various universities (Khon Kaen, Chiang Mai, Buriram Rajabhat universities) come to research this post-mining area in both geology and tourism to increase educational value (Fig.…”

Visitation Rate Analysis of Geoheritage Features from Earth Science Education Perspective Using Automated Landform Classification and Crowdsourcing: A Geoeducation Capacity Map of the Auckland Volcanic Field, New Zealand

“…All these attributes are non-quantitative and are non-scientific disciplines, there is no directly measurable indicator that would safeguard their existence in a rapidly growing urban area. These principles work, however, if there is a visitation flow over a certain threshold value that is measured as instrumental value and applied against opportunity loss and successful conservation is allowed [15,16].…”

Exploring Causal Relationships for Geoheritage Interpretation — Variable Effects of Cenozoic Volcanism in Central European Sedimentary Tablelands

“…If the rock and landscape records are visually appealing and thematically intriguing, opportunities to engage visitors increase. The latter comment particularly applies to volcanic geoheritage, which is often associated with spectacular landforms (volcanic cones, lava plateaus) and geological structures (columnar jointing, thick layered pyroclastic deposits), but in the interpretation realm, it can be also related to the contemporary volcanism and its consequences for both natural landscapes and the society (Erfurt-Cooper 2010Abratis et al 2015;Zangmo Tefogum et al 2016;Lima et al 2018;Scarlett and Riede 2019;Becerra-Ramírez et al 2020;Dóniz-Páez et al 2020;Németh et al 2021). However, whereas a multitude of examples how past volcanism is presented to and interpreted for the public can be provided, its wider context and relationships with other aspects of geoheritage and landscape history, both natural and cultural, seem less explored, at least in Central Europe, where the evidence of Neogene volcanic activity is abundant (e.g., Harangi 2014;Szepesi et al 2017;Megerle 2020).…”