The Potential of Permanent Gullies in Europe as Geomorphosites

Abstract

Geotourism is a useful way to educate societies in the field of geomorphology and related natural hazards. Geosites, including geomorphosites, represent the basis for the development of this type of tourism. This study describes 12 representative gully regions within nine European countries. The characteristics of 42 permanent gullies, gully systems, and badland landscapes are presented. Based on scientific values of the sites, educational lessons to be learned were identified that are mainly related to (i) gullies as a geological window, (ii) present-day geomorphological processes and (iii) stages of historical gully erosion reflecting past human-environment interactions. To evaluate possible education activities, a geotouristic assessment of the studied gullies and badlands was made, based on scientific, educational, functional and touristic indicators. This assessment demonstrates a large difference between the selected gully and badland sites, particularly with regard to functional and tourist values. The geotouristic potential of gullies (badlands) is the highest in Italy and Spain and the lowest in Romania and Latvia. In some countries, permanent gullies are not regarded as geotouristic attractions at all, while in others, they constitute a significant element of their tourism development strategy. In our opinion, all activities must be part of a broader strategy for the development of geotourism in gully and badland regions, for example, gullies may be included as geosites within existing or planned geoparks.

Hillslope degradation in representative Italian areas: Just soil erosion risk or opportunity for development?

“…This also supports the thesis that biancane landforms are mainly an effect of human activity as well. This point of view emphasizes how human impact has a significant importance in the maintenance of a very particular landscape, in which badland existence represents an opportunity of landscape geodiversity increase and of geoheritage enhancement for tourism development (Zgłobicki et al, ). Thus, the coexistence of a typical rural landscape and of a spectacular seminatural badlands represents the key aspect of the area that makes it worthy of UNESCO recognition as cultural landscape.…”

Geoheritage as a Tool for Environmental Management: A Case Study in Northern Malta (Central Mediterranean Sea)

“…(3) Coordinates: international system; (4) Type (according to [51,58,60,83,84], distinguished on its geometrical characters in: (i) punctiform, small-size isolated single form or object (e.g., a sinkhole or a spring); (ii) linear, one or more simple forms developed preferentially in a single direction (e.g., a canyon, or a paleo riverbed) and/or stratigraphical sequences; (iii) areal: a set of large simple landforms related to just one type of genetic process (e.g., a karren field); (5) Lithology; (6) Genesis/main interest: e.g., tectonic, geomorphological, stratigraphic; regarding the geomorphological interest, a morphogenetic division related to a group of processes (coastal, fluvial, karstic, gravity-induced etc.) can be applied; (7) State of activity (e.g., [85][86][87][88][89][90][91][92][93]): active sites, those that allow the visualization of geological and geomorphological processes in action (e.g., fluvial systems); inherited sites defined as inherited landforms, which testify to past processes and have a particular heritage value since they are symbols of Earth's history and evolution (e.g., stack); (8) Brief geological and geomorphological description based on field observations and literature survey; (9) Documents, archive material and pictorial representations: e.g., photographs, sketches.…”

Geoeducational Value of Quarries Located Within the Małopolska Vistula River Gap (E Poland)

“…In the Małopolska Vistula River Gap, the loess cover, up to 30 m thick, represents an important element of geodiversity (Harasimiuk and Henkiel 1978), and there are important loess sections for understanding climatic and environmental change in this region during the Pleistocene (Maruszczak 1991(Maruszczak , 1995(Maruszczak , 2000Dolecki et al 2004). The gully network, unique on the European scale, offers an opportunity to discuss topics related to geohazards, particularly past and present soil erosion, climate changes and human impact on landscape (Zgłobicki et al 2015(Zgłobicki et al , 2019.…”