The Inventory and Quantitative Assessment of Geodiversity as Strategic Tools for Promoting Sustainable Geoconservation and Geo-Education in the Peloritani Mountains (Italy)

Abstract

Most methods used for geoheritage inventories do not consider the quantitative assessment of the geodiversity indicators; consequently, it can happen that some geosites are wrongly inventoried as geodiversity sites and vice versa or activities for scientific, educational, and touristic purposes actually should not be planned in geoheritage sites unprovided with requirements. The main aim of the present paper is to raise awareness of the type of geoheritage present in sixteen localities of the Calabria–Peloritani Arc (Messina province; Italy) and suitable for scientific/educational/touristic assets. The main results of the research may be synthesized as follows: (i) identification of several potential geosites of international significance; (ii) exclusion of several geosites from any possible educational and touristic initiatives; (iii) possibility to promote educational initiatives among a broader public in some geosites and geodiversity sites, best addressed to postgraduate geology students in structural geology, tectonics, and stratigraphy, and/or PhD students or young researchers; (iv) planning of a geo route devoted to the geoknowledge transfer on Alpine thrust tectonics and Miocene block rotations involving arc-like structures such as the Calabria–Peloritani Arc and Paleozoic to Meso-Cenozoic stratigraphy.