No abstract

Poland is a country of considerable geomorphological diversity and includes a range of physical landscapes, from high mountains through uplands, plains, glaciated lowlands, large river valleys, to coasts. Within them, numerous localities may be considered as geomorphosites, illustrating key stages in the geomorphic evolution of the territory, classic landforms and the recent operation of geomorphic processes. The only database that aims to cover all geosites in Poland, including sites of geomorphological interest, is the Polish Central Register of Geosites (PCRG), managed by the state geological survey-the Polish Geological Institute (PIG). Among more than 2200 geosites recorded about 30% can be considered as geomorphosites. Their spatial coverage is very uneven. Most are located in the upland belt of southern Poland (40%) and in northern part of the country, within the extent of the late Pleistocene ice sheet (29%), while the Carpathians are under-represented. Thematically, geosites illustrating various examples of denudational relief dominate (45%). Significantly less common are glacifluvial (13%), glacial (11%) and fluvial (10%) landforms. Tors and residual hills are most common among geomorphosites (205 sites), followed by moraines (52), dunes (49), gullies and their systems (45) and river valleys (34). Thus, PCRG does not yet adequately reflect the diversity of the geomorphological heritage of Poland.

Geomorphosites are among major assets for the development of geotourism. An accurate assessment of spatial distribution of their scientific, educational and economic characteristics provides the basis for appropriate design and management of proposed geoparks. Although the problem of assessing their value for geotourism has been discussed by numerous authors, consistent methodology for the assessment of geomorphosites has not been devised so far. In the present study, we conducted a geotourist evaluation of geomorphosites located within the proposed geopark Vistula River Gap. We assessed a total of 76 sites using 18 assessment criteria. The results indicate not uniform spatial distribution of sites having the highest value. The application of cluster analysis to evaluation results enabled us to distinguish groups of sites with similar characteristics and thus to identify groups of geomorphosites in relation to which various measures should be taken in order to increase the possibilities of their tourist use.