Geological Heritage in the “Arribes del Duero” Natural Park (Western, Spain): A Case Study of Introducing Educational Information via Augmented Reality and 3D Virtual Itineraries

Abstract

The concept of geological heritage has been introduced into the protected area of the Arribes del Duero Natural Park, which is west of the Salamanca and Zamora Provinces, Spain for the purpose of developing a guide to places of geological and geomorphological interest, through which geoenvironmental itineraries were developed in order to demonstrate to both the students and tourists, the geological context of the events in the geological history of this natural park. Twelve of the most geologically representative geosites were assessed using 18 quantitative parameters dealing with the scientific, didactic and cultural-tourist interest of each site. The objective of this paper is to describe and analyze the points of interest that are of geoheritage significance and to develop of an inventory that will ultimately facilitate geoconservation and the dissemination of information through educational virtual itineraries that reveal the known geological history of an area. A 3D virtual geological route was created in Google Earth for educational use with superimposed georeferenced cartographies, together with a field guide and an app. The virtual route allows the participants to follow the geological events and the natural history of the park using digital devices in real time with the possibility of observing the relief, the geology and having access to the informative files describing each geosite. Using a field guide, each geosite is complemented with activities, and the participants have the option to evaluate what has been learned. An app makes the itinerary more interactive. These georesources allow a teaching–learning process where the student is an active part of the development and creation of the contents using technologies that provide an entertaining and didactic learning experience, and this involves working as a team and interacting with social networks, thus, potentially influencing the attitudes and skills development that are involved in geoconservation as an element for its sustainable development. The identification of geological heritage currently constitutes a great resource to promote the sustainable development of it and employment in very depopulated rural areas.