Xitle Volcano Geoheritage, Mexico City: Raising Awareness of Natural Hazards and Environmental Sustainability in Active Volcanic Areas

Abstract

The conservation of geosites in a region can foster its sustainability and develop geotourism. These geosites provide geoeducation, raise people's awareness on natural hazards and increase their resilience. Low-income cities located in tectonically active areas combine high geohazards with high vulnerability and low sustainability. Geosites in these cities should be a tool to decrease people's vulnerability and foster sustainable development. Mexico City is an ideal case study for its environmental and social issues and its setting in an active 2 continental volcanic arc. The 1,700 yrs-old Xitle volcano, located in the city's SW corner, is a small scoria cone that erupted once, feeding an extensive lava field on which >600,000 people now live. The lavas are very well exposed due to thin soils and extensive quarrying.The Xitle lavas covered the first urban center in the Mexico basin, except for the main pyramid that has become a major archeological site. The cone and lavas have significant geodiversity, sustaining a unique and biodiverse ecosystem. The country's largest university preserves the lavas in an ecological reserve. We describe four exceptional geosites, assess their values, and discuss their relevance for addressing issues such as nature preservation, environmental sustainability, social inequalities, and natural hazards. The Xitle volcano provides a wide range of benefits for the city that are nonetheless unknown to its inhabitants.We describe ongoing initiatives to disseminate such information, such as the Geopedregal site, and propose ways that this heritage could be further protected and used by the city in a sustainable way.

Volcanic Geoheritage in the Light of Volcano Geology

“…Applying the above principals, we also can get closer to developing a better geodiversity (Gray 2018a, b;Zwoliński et al 2018;Fox et al 2020;Dias et al 2021;Wolniewicz 2021) recognition method applicable to volcanic features (Dóniz-Páez et al 2020;Quesada-Román and Pérez-Umaña 2020;Guilbaud et al 2021;Vörös et al 2021). Defining geodiversity itself is a subject that is under debate and recently evolving fast Semeniuk 2019, 2020;Gray and Gordon 2020), hence its application to volcanic regions still in infantry.…”

Insights into Regenerative Paradigm in Cultural Heritage Sites: Lessons from Case Studies

“…Dynamic private engagement and political leadership characterized the success of the rehabilitation project in this historic city of Mexico. The rehabilitation program of Mexico City positively impacted the UN Sustainable Development Goals where the following provides a sense of significant impacts (Guilbaud et al, 2021).…”

“…Complying Sdg's (Sustainable Development Goals)Dynamic private engagement and political leadership characterized the success of the rehabilitation project in this historic city of Mexico. The rehabilitation program of Mexico City positively impacted the UN Sustainable Development ing provides a sense of significant impacts(Guilbaud et al, 2021). Fundación Centro Histórico's social programs aimed at ending poverty in its all form Fundación Centro Histórico's social programs established two Family Integration to promote well With the support of the Secretary of Education, FCH developed a pilot program to promote lifelong learning opportunities and ensure equitable and inclusive quality education for all.The development program is classified as development finance for poverty alleviation through heritage regeneration where the program main objective is regenerating historic buildings, improve access through traffic flow, infrastructure, safety and wellbeing, and institutional strengthening which are all examples of urban regeneration and improved quality of life.…”

Dilemma of Geoconservation of Monogenetic Volcanic Sites under Fast Urbanization and Infrastructure Developments with Special Relevance to the Auckland Volcanic Field, New Zealand

“…For centuries societies have utilized volcanic landforms for resources, resulting in modified landscapes. Recently, abandoned quarry sites have become significant geosites, often featuring exposed magmatic plumbing systems of monogenetic volcanoes, easily accessible, and ready to be visited and utilized as geosites for volcano geology and hazard education [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. The UNESCO IGCP Project (# 692.…”

“…Geoheritage for Geohazard Resilience) promotes sites allowing complex volcanic processes to be engaged with and visualized by laypeople and scientists alike [15][16][17][18]. Though a promising new avenue for protection and utilization of abandoned quarries, high rates of urbanization and increasing economic value of geological commodities seen as necessary for local economic and development needs may override geoconservation policies and in some cases result in overexploitation [2,[19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]. Here we provide demonstrative case studies from two monogenetic volcanic fields and highlight the paradoxical situation whereby in an intact condition their inner structure remains hidden, while the destructive practice of quarrying can reveal the succession of eruptive phases and their geological components.…”