Assessment of geoheritage and prospects of geotourism: An approach to geoconservation of important geological and geomorphological sites of Puruliya district, West Bengal, India

Geospatial Analysis of Geo-Ecotourism Site Suitability Using AHP and GIS for Sustainable and Resilient Tourism Planning in West Bengal, India

“…Almost every district has some special features in terms of tourism, and therefore, the state is famous for its landscape and nature, including hills, wildlife, forests and beaches; its cultural, heritage, religious, waterways, traditional, ethnic, urban, rural and tribal aspects; and its historical forms of tourism. Moreover, tourist spots, such as Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Sandakphu, Dooars, Jaldapara, Murshidabad, Gour, Gorumara, Bishnupur, Purulia, Shantiniketan, Belur Math, Dakshineswar, Kalighat, Tarapith, Nabadwip, Mayapur, Digha, Mandarmoni, Bakkhali, Gangasagar, Sundarbans, Kolkata, etc., are known to every tourist who visits or is willing to visit West Bengal [42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52].…”

“…The geological structures of the region leave significant imprints on the physical landscape, such as deep canyons in Gangani and Garbeta, formed by the river Shilabati in the Paschim Medinipur district, and are major tourist attractions due to the deep, beautifully carved red rock and amazing scenic beauty. The verdant greenery of the Purulia district, coating the jagged, rising topography comprising the lower elevations of the Eastern Ghats, can be exceptionally attractive to people looking for a taste of adventure [48][49][50][51][52]. The lower part of the state is the coastline with several beaches, such as Digha, New Digha, Mandarmani, Tajpur, etc., which is enticing for peaceful, serene vacations.…”

“…Numerous studies have been performed on ecotourism, but most of the works on geo-ecotourism have been completed at the microlevel and are mostly related to other countries [1,14,21,22]. While some significant works on ecotourism and geotourism in India [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41], and specifically in West Bengal [42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52], have been performed, very few studies have considered site suitability analyses [53][54][55][56] or the potential applicability of GIS [16,17,19,20,[57][58][59][60][61][62]. Therefore, this kind of study on geo-ec...…”

Geotourism Potentiality of the Rarh Region of West Bengal: A Geographical Outlook

“…Jaichandi is a notable batholith having a continuous intrusive granitic body of late Proterozoic era. It is situated in the district of Puruliya near North Puruliya Shear Zone (NPSZ) (Ghosh, Mukhopadhyay & Chatterjee, 2021). This giant porphyritic granitoid batholith is formed by mixing mantle-derived mafic magma and crustal melts in continent-continent collisional settings (Goswami & Bhattacharyya, 2008).…”

“…The lithology of this place contains a diversified range of rocks ranging from high-grade metamorphic rocks to younger dolerite intrusions due to which it can be called as a museum of precambrian geology. Metamorphic rocks in this site essentially include hornblende gneiss composed chiefly of hornblende and biotite with accessory opaque minerals (Ghosh, Mukhopadhyay & Chatterjee, 2021).…”