Geo-Heritage Specific Visibility as an Important Parameter in Geo-Tourism Resource Evaluation

Abstract

Geological heritage (geo-heritage) is a resource for geoscience, geo-education, and geo-tourism. Geo-tourist attractions differ in their physical visibility, interpretation (clarity), and aesthetic attractiveness. These three characteristics determine perception of visitors and, thus, the importance of attractions. An integrative parameter, namely specific visibility, is proposed for qualitative geo-tourism resource evaluation. This parameter is examined for all geo-heritage types, and some relevant examples from southwest Russia are considered. The geo-heritage types differ in their specific visibility. For instance, when landforms like the Granite Gorge in the Western Caucasus (geomorphological type) are well-visible, geochemical processes like the heavy metal cycling in the Don River delta and the Pelenkino mud lake (geo-chemical type) are not as visible. Such a difference should be taken into account when geo-tourism resources of any area or a geopark are evaluated. The lower the specific visibility, the higher the costs for professional interpretation and demand for advanced infrastructure solutions.

Coastal Peloids as Geological Heritage: Evidence from the Taman Peninsula (Southwestern Russia)

“…The origin of this sediment is linked strongly to highly-complex biogeochemical processes on the bottom of limans and coastal lakes [15], and, therefore, the mud represents a unique geochemical phenomenon. The latter is a bit less important because geochemical processes can be documented in the course of special investigations, and, thus, these processes remain 'invisible' (in the terms of [27]). The occurrence that the studied peloids (especially those of the BugazLiman and the Chemburka Lake) can be used in local spa centersmakes this geological substance unique (rare coastal deposits have such significance).…”

“…Geoheritage is a significant geological resource for exploitation for the purposes of science, education, and tourism [21,27,32]. Scientific importance of the coastal peloidgeoheritage of the Taman Peninsula is undisputable.…”

“…Generally, geoheritage is the entity of unique geological phenomena occurring globally, nationally, regionally, or locally. The conceptual framework of the modern geoheritage studies and the principles/methods of its description are given in the works of Brilha [17], Brocx and Semeniuk [18], Coratza et al [19], Gordon [20], Gray [21], Habibi et al [22], Henriques and Brilha [23], Henriques et al [24], Ibáñez et al [25], Mikhailenko and Ruban [26,27], Prosser [28], Prosser et al [29], Reynard and Brilha [30], Reynard et al [31], Ruban [32], and Wimbledon [33]. The approaches employed earlier for the purposes of peloid-related geoheritage characteristics [12,34] have to be noted.…”

Geoparks and Education: UNESCO Global Geopark Villuercas-Ibores-Jara as a Case Study in Spain

“…Their study concludes that these kinds of tourists mainly look for geology to broaden their knowledge and learning and understanding other cultures, as goals they aim to fulfil through their visit to a geopark [33]. This type of tourism of a specialised nature in which the broadening of knowledge plays a major role means that the educational facet, whether of a formal or informal nature, is of paramount importance [12,19,23,[34][35][36][37].…”

Dispersed Geoheritage Points of the Lagonaki Highland, SW Russia: Contribution to Local Geoheritage Resource

“…Geological heritage (geoheritage) is an important resource for geoscience research, education, and (geo)tourism [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. Geoheritage sites (geosites) are the main constituents of this resource, and these are employed taken alone, in groups, or in the form of geopark creation.…”