Educational Potential of Geoheritage: Textbook Localities from the Zagros and the Greater Caucasus

Abstract

Geoheritage requires proper conservation and has significant importance for geoscience education at universities. Furthermore, its related potential needs to be evaluated. This study focuses on two textbook localities (these are parts of larger geosites) from the Cenozoic orogenic belts, namely the Zagros and the Greater Caucasus. The novel, tentatively proposed approach aims at general geological characteristics of the localities, identification of the principal teaching topics and teaching opportunities, and semi-quantitative evaluation of the educational potential on the basis of several objective criteria. The Abmorghan anticline (Zagros, Iran) is suitable for learning about the regional Paleogene stratigraphy, carbonate platform evolution, and karst. The locality of the Skala monocline (Greater Caucasus, Russia) allows the deposition in past tropical conditions and monocline structures to be explained. Both localities can be used for training student skills and challenging their geological thinking. The semi-quantitative evaluation shows that the geoeducational potential of the Abmorghan anticline is advanced and that of the Skala monocline is moderate. The established potential can be exploited by universities, although this requires focusing attention on the other geoheritage sites and special marketing efforts.