Earth Science Frontier at Urban Periphery: Geoheritage from the Vicinity of Kazan City, Russia

Abstract

Characterizing geological heritage sites (geosites) available in Russia remains an urgent task. The present study focuses on two geosites from the vicinity of Kazan—a large city on the Volga River. They are attributed to the standardized geoheritage types and scored by means of several criteria. It is found out that the Pechischi geosite represents nine geoheritage types, from which the stratigraphical type (stratotype section of the Upper Kazanian regional unit of the Guadalupian) and the geohistorical type (history of the Permian System studies) are the most important. This geosite reaches 675 out of 750 maximum possible scores, and it is ranked globally. The Cheremushki geosite represents six geoheritage types, from which the stratigraphical type (reference section of the Urzhumian regional unit of the Guadalupian) and the paleontological type (locality of diverse fossils, including tetrapods) are the most important. This geosite reaches a score of 250 and is ranked nationally. The undertaken study allows for recommending several actions for the effective conservation and exploitation of these geosites. The innovative interpretation is that the presence of geosites at the urban periphery makes its general (not only geological) heritage value comparable to that of the city’s center.

Promoting Geosites on Web-Pages: An Assessment of the Quality and Quantity of Information in Real Cases

“…This geosite has the official status of natural monument approved by the regional administration. It has been described in detail by Zorina et al [66]. This is a linear geosite, which corresponds to the lengthy (several kilometers) section of Guadalupian (Middle Permian) dolostones with abundant fossils stretching along the right bank of the Volga River near Pechischi village (close to large Kazan city); there are also karst features and historical mining sites (Figure 3).…”

“…The approach proposed in this study is tested for three geosites located in different regions of Russia, namely, the Granite Gorge in the Republic of Adygeya, Pechischi in the Republic of Tatarstan, and the Red Stones in the Stavropol Region (Figure 1). These geosites have been previously studied comprehensively [64][65][66] and, thus, they do not need re-description (nonetheless, their very brief characteristics are provided below, together with each case example). Importantly, the present study focuses on how these geosites are promoted on web-pages, i.e., web-pages, not geosites, are the subject of the analysis.…”

“…The misinterpretations found on one web-page are about the palaeogeographical patterns. The authors of the text suggest that the dolomite layers were formed in the ancient sea, although dolostones are diagenetic in this case [66]. Indeed, this is a minor misinterpretation, which could be avoided by obtaining professional knowledge.…”