Fforest Fawr Geopark—a UNESCO Global Geopark distinguished by its geological,industrial and cultural heritage

The creation of the European Geoparks Network in 2000 was followed by the establishment of the Global Geoparks Network in 2004, incorporating the European Geoparks Network. On November 17, 2015, UNESCO sanctioned the creation of a new designation, the UNESCO Global Geoparks, as part of UNESCO’s new International Geoscience and Geoparks Programme (IGGP). This is the first initiative of its kind to be established by UNESCO for 40 years and is the result of effective networking among geoparks and their partners aiming to achieve significant progress in geo-conservation, geotourism, environmental education and sustainable local development.Geoparks are located primarily in rural areas which are both remote and underdeveloped or which have experienced economic decline. In order to become a UNESCO Global Geopark, a geopark must demonstrate that it has a significant geological heritage, has well defined boundaries and is large enough to support a sustainable strategy for economic development based upon that heritage. In addition to its geology, a geopark should also make use of sites of archaeological, ecological, historical or cultural significance as these are often linked to the underlying geology. The ultimate objective of a UNESCO Global Geopark is to use the designation as a vehicle to engage communities in protecting these assets in ways which contribute to the economic development of their territory.The Fforest Fawr Geopark, the first geopark in Wales, became a member of the European and Global Geoparks Networks in 2005 and a UNESCO Global Geopark in 2015. The geopark was established in the western area of the Brecon Beacons National Park because that area has a strong identity in terms of its geology and Welsh industrial and cultural heritage. In addition, while the eastern area of the National Park was a more popular tourist destination, the area designated as the geopark was less well known, more remote in character, and economically less prosperous.The geopark’s approximately 480 million year geological heritage provides a resource for developing geotourism and for educational activities. Nearly 11,500 years of human activity created a cultural landscape in which ancient monuments contrast with the relicts of industrial activity. With the coming of the Industrial Revolution the geological resources of Fforest Fawr were systematically exploited for over 200 years to supply South Wales’s expanding metal industry. During this time mining, quarrying and brick making contributed to wealth creation and South Wales was a major player in the new industrial age which changed the world. The area of Fforest Fawr Geopark, with its close association to the South Wales Coalfield played a significant role in global industrial history.In addition, the rich culture of the geopark’s early inhabitants comes to life in myths and legends and some of Europe’s oldest stories and myths are associated with the area of Fforest Fawr Geopark.     

福建龙岩地质公园“申世”可行性浅析

龙岩地质公园位于福建西部地区。在地球演化过程中,地质公园记录了华南中生代从印支期陆内造山构造体系向古太平洋板块俯冲构造体系的转换过程,是研究中国东南部中生代大地构造演化的关键地区。文章分析了拟建龙岩世界地质公园的地质遗迹、自然资源和人文资源的类型,通过对比,认为它们具有独特性和重要的地质学、美学、教育学及旅游学价值。按照联合国教科文组织世界地质公园的标准和要求,指出了申报龙岩世界地质公园还存在的差距,并提出了相应的改进建议。通过全面分析研究,文章认为申报和创建龙岩联合国教科文组织世界地质公园是可行的。     

Geotourism,geoconservation, and geodiversity along the belt and road: A case study of Dunhuang UNESCO Global Geopark in China

Dunhuang UNESCO Global Geopark (DHGG) is rich in geoheritage and contains scientific value for studying the sedimentation environments and paleoclimates of Western China. The Geopark is also notable for its aesthetic, cultural, artistic, and recreational value for tourism development. Since geographer Sven Hedin’s discovery of a yardang landform around Lop Nur in 1903, the area has been heavily studied. After the site was designated a National Geopark, geoconservation and geotourism began to rapidly develop and problems associated with these changes emerged. This study characterizes some of DHGG’s typical geoheritage, existing geoconservation, launched geotourism, and also describes some of the area’s challenges. In addition, the opportunities and challenges of DHGG arising from the construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road (B&R) are discussed. To benefit the sustainable development of DHGG, it is prudent to continue promoting geodiversity, geoconservation, and geotourism by making use of the advantages brought by the B&R.     

湖北神农架世界地质公园地质遗迹分类及地学意义

湖北神农架世界地质公园是以(秦岭)造山带地质构造为特征的构造地貌及山地生态综合性地质公园。公园内地质遗迹和景观类型多样,共包括地质(体、层)剖面、地质构造、古生物、矿物与矿床、地貌景观、水体景观和环境地质遗迹景观7个大类、20个类共100多处地质遗迹景点,其中世界级地质遗迹景观共计5处。在前人研究总结的基础上,就地质公园内地质遗迹的地貌学、构造地质学、地层岩石学、化石及古生物等方面的地学意义进行了探讨。结果表明,湖北神农架世界地质公园内地质遗迹种类丰富,具有较高的科研、科普价值,园内多处地质遗迹具有全球对比意义。     

Lisdoonvarna springs and spa wells,County Clare,Ireland

Lisdoonvarna is a small town with a resident population of ca. 700, which is seasonally increased several-fold by tourists. It is located in the northwest of County Clare, western Ireland about 10 km from the Atlantic seaboard and adjacent to the karstic Burren plateau. Lisdoonvarna has two claims to fame: it is the only currently operative spa in Ireland, and it is the center for a long-established match-making festival held each September (postharvest) at which bachelor farmers are found partners by skilled match-makers. These two features of Lisdoonvarna are not wholly unconnected even though the September festival now attracts many young people from outside of the area who may not patronize the spa waters.     

Stonehammer Geopark,New Brunswick,Canada

Stonehammer Geopark of New Brunswick, Canada is one of the newest destinations in the UNESCO‐assisted Global Geoparks Network, and the first in North America. Its rocks tell the amazing billion‐year story of the evolution of eastern North America. Highlights include some of the finest Precambrian stromatolites in the world, a Cambrian site that yielded one of the world's largest trilobites, and a Silurian section with a rich fauna of fish, crustaceans and sea scorpions. At the famous ‘Reversing Falls’ in Saint John, visitors can also see the boundary between the Late Precambrian Brookville Terrane and the western part of the Avalon Terrane, and learn about the late Silurian closure of the Iapetus Ocean during the final stages of the accretion of North America. In and around the city, Devonian pebbly sandstones represent the erosive remnants of the highlands formed as a result of that terrane accretion event, and slightly younger Carboniferous exposures further shed light on the evolution of life at a time when the region lay on the equator. These include early Carboniferous clubmoss forests preserved on the main highway east of Saint John, and late Carboniferous deposits rich in the remains of fossil plants, insects, giant arthropods, and some of the earliest reptiles—the latter recorded by spectacular trackways. Scattered Mesozoic outcrops and Quaternary moraines continue the story to the present day. Positioned at the gateway of Atlantic Canada, Stonehammer Geopark is a strategic part of an emerging geotouristic network that also includes UNESCO World Heritage Sites at nearby Misguasha, Quebec (Devonian coastal ecosystems) and Joggins, Nova Scotia (Pennsylvanian fossil forests). It presents a brilliant opportunity to teach visitors of the extraordinary story of Earth's evolution.     

Biostratigraphy,microfacies and depositional environments of upper Viséan limestones from the Burren region,County Clare,Ireland

The Burren region in western Ireland contains an almost continuous record of Viséan (Middle Mississippian) carbonate deposition extending from Chadian to Brigantian times, represented by three formations: the Chadian to Holkerian Tubber Formation, the Asbian Burren Formation and the Brigantian Slievenaglasha Formation. The upper Viséan (Holkerian–Brigantian) platform carbonate succession of the Burren can be subdivided into six distinct depositional units outlined below. (1) An Holkerian to lower Asbian unit of skeletal peloidal and bryozoan bedded limestone. (2) Lower Asbian unit of massive light grey Koninckopora‐rich limestone, representing a shallower marine facies. (3) Upper Asbian terraced limestone unit with minor shallowing‐upward cycles of poorly bedded Kamaenella‐rich limestone with shell bands and palaeokarst features. This unit is very similar to other cyclic sequences of late Asbian age in southern Ireland and western Europe, suggesting a glacio‐eustatic origin for this fourth‐order cyclicity. (4) Lower Brigantian unit with cyclic alternations of crinoidal/bryozoan limestone and peloidal limestone with coral thickets. These cycles lack evidence of subaerial exposure. (5) Lower Brigantian bedded cherty dark grey limestone unit, deposited during the maximum transgressive phase of the Brigantian. (6) Lower to upper Brigantian unit mostly comprising cyclic bryozoan/crinoidal cherty limestone. In most areas this youngest unit is truncated and unconformably overlain by Serpukhovian siliciclastic rocks. Deepening enhanced by platform‐wide subsidence strongly influenced later Brigantian cycle development in Ireland, but localized rapid shallowing led to emergence at the end of the Brigantian. A Cf5 Zone (Holkerian) assemblage of microfossils is recorded from the Tubber Formation at Black Head, but in the Ballard Bridge section the top of the formation has Cf6 Zone (Asbian) foraminiferans. A typical upper Asbian Rugose Coral Assemblage G near the top of the Burren Formation is replaced by a lower Brigantian Rugose Coral Assemblage H in the Slievenaglasha Formation. A similar change in the foraminiferans and calcareous algae at this Asbian–Brigantian formation boundary is recognized by the presence of upper Asbian Cf6γ Subzone taxa in the Burren Formation including Cribrostomum lecomptei, Koskinobigenerina sp., Bradyina rotula and Howchinia bradyana, and in the Slievenaglasha Formation abundant Asteroarchaediscus spp., Neoarchaediscus spp. and Fasciella crustosa of the Brigantian Cf6δ Subzone. The uppermost beds of the Slievenaglasha Formation contain a rare and unusual foraminiferal assemblage containing evolved archaediscids close to tenuis stage indicating a late Brigantian age. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

河南跑马岭地区新构造运动表现特征的探讨

跑马岭地区是一座以碳酸盐岩地质地貌为主题,以典型的地质剖面、幽深的峡谷、秀奇的溶洞、美丽的人工湖为主要景观的地质公园.公园内多层次分布的各类地质遗迹和景观对于研究新构造运动,具有重要的意义.通过系统调查,在跑马岭地区发现了差异运动、断裂活动、第四系褶曲、火山活动、地震等新构造运动的表现特征,针对各种特征开展了分析和探讨.     

第四纪镜泊火山活动与镜泊湖世界地质公园

论述了我国最大的火山堰塞湖——世界地质公园镜泊湖的地质及资源特征,包括火山地貌、火山喷发及镜泊湖形成的时代,火山活动迁移及火山岩,镜泊湖及周边地区景点,对地质公园进行了评价,并提出进一步开发与保护的建议.     

遗迹学的可持续发展:第4届国际遗迹学大会综述*

第4届国际遗迹学大会于2016年5月6日—9日在葡萄牙新伊达尼亚世界地质公园召开。从会议报告、展板、论文摘要集和野外地质考察可以看出:遗迹化石与沉积环境分析及遗迹化石的系统古生物学是当前遗迹学研究的热门领域,新概念和跨学科的研究方法将是未来遗迹学发展的重要推动力。对比表明,中国学者在遗迹化石的系统分类学、陆相遗迹化石以及新遗迹学领域研究较为薄弱。笔者认为,注重遗迹化石在地质突变期中的分析、发展新遗迹学、加强四足动物及鸟类足迹的研究,将是近期国内遗迹学的主要研究方向。     

Dating Ancient Field Walls in Karst Landscapes Using Differential Bedrock Lowering

While karst environments present methodological and interpretive challenges to archaeologists, they also provide some unique opportunities. One of these opportunities is the ability to date field walls by measuring divergent rates of bedrock dissolution underneath and adjacent to ancient walls. Field walls are traditionally difficult to date, either by using morphological typologies or through the association of diagnostic or chronometric materials. The method presented here, therefore, represents a valuable tool for archaeologists working in karst landscapes. The methodology is described along with a discussion of potential problems, drawing in particular upon evidence from the karstic terrain of the Burren in western Ireland. The methodology is then applied to a group of field walls on the Burren, which are shown to date to the Chalcolithic ‐ Early Bronze Age.     

Sedimentology and kinematics of a large, retrogressive growth-fault system in Upper Carboniferous deltaic sediments, western Ireland

Growth faulting is a common feature of many deltaic environments and is vital in determining local sediment dispersal and accumulation, and hence in controlling the resultant sedimentary facies distribution and architecture. Growth faults occur on a range of scales, from a few centimetres to hundreds of metres, with the largest growth faults frequently being under‐represented in outcrops that are often smaller than the scale of feature under investigation. This paper presents data from the exceptionally large outcrops of the Cliffs of Moher, western Ireland, where a growth‐fault complex affects strata up to 60 m in thickness and extends laterally for ≈ 3 km. Study of this Namurian (Upper Carboniferous) growth‐fault system enables the relationship between growth faulting and sedimentation to be detailed and permits reconstruction of the kinematic history of faulting. Growth faulting was initiated with the onset of sandstone deposition on a succession of silty mudstones that overlie a thin, marine shale. The decollement horizon developed at the top of the marine shale contact for the first nine faults, by which time aggradation in the hangingwall exceeded 60 m in thickness. After this time, failure planes developed at higher stratigraphic levels and were associated with smaller scale faults. The fault complex shows a dominantly landward retrogressive movement, in which only one fault was largely active at any one time. There is no evidence of compressional features at the base of the growth faults, thus suggesting open‐ended slides, and the faults display both disintegrative and non‐disintegrative structure. Thin‐bedded, distal mouth bar facies dominate the hangingwall stratigraphy and, in the final stages of growth‐fault movement, erosion of the crests of rollover structures resulted in the highest strata being restricted to the proximity of the fault. These upper erosion surfaces on the fault scarp developed erosive chutes that were cut parallel to flow and are downlapped by the distal hangingwall strata of younger growth faults.     

河北省涞水县野三坡国家地质公园：地质遗迹的地质意义和4期节理的导控作用

野三坡国家地质公园位于太行山断隆与燕山“台褶带”的结合部,两构造单元以紫荆关大断裂为界。公园内地质遗迹丰富,其地质内涵是华北地质的精髓。发育4期宏大构造节理,分别与印支期华南板块、燕山期伊佐奈歧板块、华北期太平洋板块和喜马拉雅期印度板块的挤压有关。4期节理,特别是喜马拉雅期南北向“追踪张节理”,对园区构造地貌景观的形成起着关键作用。     

中国房山世界地质公园地质旅游开发与可持续发展

中国房山世界地质公园地质旅游资源丰富、种类众多。特殊的地质背景造就了这些具有重要科研和观赏价值的地质遗迹。分析了公园开发过程中存在的问题,并提出公园可持续发展对策。     

Geosite of a steep lava spatter cone of the 1256 AD, Al Madinah eruption, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

UNESCO promotes geoconservation through various programs intended to establish an inventory of geologically and geomorphologically significant features worldwide that can serve as an important database to understand the Earth’s global geoheritage. An ultimate goal of such projects globally is to establish geoparks that represent an integrated network of knowledge transfer opportunities, based on a specific array of geological and geomorphological sites able to graphically demonstrate how the Earth works to the general public. In these complex geoconservation and geoeducational programs, the identification of significant geological and geomorphological features is very important. These are commonly referred to as ‘geosites’ or ‘geomorphosites’, depending on whether the feature or processes the site demonstrates is more geological or geomorphological, respectively. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is an extraordinary place due to its arid climate and therefore perfect exposures of rock formations. The Kingdom is also home to extensive volcanic fields, named “harrats” in Arabic, referring particularly to the black, basaltic lava fields that dominate the desert landscape. Current efforts to increase awareness of the importance of these volcanic fields in the geological landscape of Arabia culminated in the first proposal to incorporate the superbly exposed volcanic features into an integrated geoconservation and geoeducation program that will hopefully lead to the development of a geopark named, “The Harrat Al Madinah Volcanic Geopark” [1]. Here we describe one of the extraordinary features of the proposed Harrat Al Madinah Volcanic Geopark, namely a steep lava spatter cone formed during a historical eruption in 1256 AD.     

Conserving Quaternary geoheritage in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland has a rich and varied Quaternary geoheritage. Landforms and sediments from the last glacial phase of the Late Pleistocene are most prevalent, though the record extends from the last interglacial (MIS 5e) to the Holocene. The glacial record in the region continues to play a crucial role in the development of models of the last British-Irish Ice Sheet, with many sites having international significance. It is the role of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency to legally protect and conserve this important Quaternary heritage, and a programme of statutory designation of these sites as Areas of Special Scientific Interest (ASSIs) has been in place for over twenty years. ASSIs are selected from the Pleistocene and Holocene themes of the Earth Science Conservation Review, the process through which geological sites in Northern Ireland are assessed to determine their importance to science, and so to geoconservation. This produced a significant series of reports that have contributed much to the grey and white literature for the Quaternary in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Quaternary geoheritage is recognised in the local planning system and existing and potential UNESCO Global Geoparks further serve to promote and protect this aspect of Northern Ireland's natural heritage. This paper summarises the Quaternary history of Northern Ireland, how ASSIs are selected to reflect this and how they are monitored and managed. It also considers how to ensure continued protection and recognition for Quaternary sites and features in the region.     

Quartz sandstone peak forest landforms of Zhangjiajie Geopark, northwest Hunan Province, China: pattern, constraints and comparison

The Zhangjiajie Sandstone Peak Forest Geopark in northwest Hunan Province, China, is a comprehensive geopark containing many spectacular quartz sandstone landforms, limestone karst landscapes and various other important geoheritage resources. It is listed as a UNESCO World Geopark and is also part of the World Heritage Wulingyuan Scenic and Historic Interest Area for its important landscape features. Many of the sandstone landforms, particularly the vast number of thin pillars or spires, are very unusual and serve as the core landscapes of the geopark. But Zhangjiajie displays a diverse range of landform types, exhibiting spectacular patterns and regular distributions. In this paper, the geomorphic traits, distribution pattern and constraints of the sandstone landforms of the Zhangjiajie Geopark are examined. Our study indicates that in the outcropping areas, the sandstones display four distinctive levels from 300 to 1,000 m above sea level, and these extend clearly from the highest sandstone plateau platform to the center of the valleys. The high sandstone platforms developed close to a flat high-level erosional surface, and subsequent erosion into this plateau has resulted in successively lower levels of landforms that transition gradually from peak walls, peak clusters, peak forests and peak pillars to remnant peaks in the lower valley bottoms. The form and distribution of the Zhangjiajie sandstone landforms are primarily dominated by the geological setting, particularly the presence of brittle structures (fractures and joint sets) trending NNW, ENE and NE. Triggered by the episodic tectonic movements, major streams and escarpments frequently occur along these structural directions, while some of the peak walls, peak clusters and peak forests have their longer elongated axes corresponding to NE or NNW directions, with an increased density of peak forms at the intersection of these fractures and joints. The geometry of the diverse sandstone landforms is also influenced to a certain degree by the climatic, water system distribution, lithologic properties, biological process, meteorological features and denudation processes. The suite of quartz sandstone landforms in Zhangjiajie can be compared with other sandstone landscapes regionally, and our interpretation of the sandstone peak forest formation processes offers a significant contribution to the study of topographic features and the geomorphic evolution of sandstone landscapes.     

Origin of Tafoni in the Late Cretaceous Aeolian Sandstones,Danxiashan UNESCO Global Geopark,South China

Tafoni occur generally in granular rocks around the world, but their origin remains controversial. In this study,the roles of lithology, micro–climate, and organism in tafoni development are investigated in the Danxiashan UNESCO Global Geopark of South China. The Jinshiyan Temple and Luyitang sites along the Jinjiang River are chosen to conduct tafoni morphometry, bedrock petrography, and micro–climate analyses. The research methods used in this study include field observations and measurements, Voronoi diagrams, polarizing microscopic and scanning electron microscopic(SEM)image analysis, and meteorological detection. The tafoni are mostly 2–10 cm in length and elliptical in shape. The Late Cretaceous Jinshiyan sandstones are characterized by a grain–to–grain contact fabric and moderate sorting with a high proportion of soluble grains and cements. The Voronoi diagrams developed through the Arc GIS software are largely consistent with the tafoni openings. Moreover, owing to exposure to solar insolation, the external temperature values are higher than the internal ones, while the external relative humidity values are lower than the internal ones. Therefore, the permeable Jinshiyan sandstones are fundamental for tafoni development, while the abundant moisture from the Jinjiang River and frequent rains is favorable for salt weathering in tandem with biological activities. At last, a five–stage development model is proposed for the tafoni progression in the study area.     

兴文侵蚀型天坑的形成演化过程研究

According to the first-hand investigation and study on Xingwen Global Geopark,the results and the data show that apart from Dayanwan and Xiaoyanwan collapsed karst Tiankeng,there are other karst landforms in Bowang Mount scenic spot such as Feiwu Cave,Dao Cave,Cangshuiyan Gorge,Nanxing TanKeng and so on.These typical karst landforms could be regarded as different vestiges of erosive karst Tiankeng of Xingwen Global Geopark,which stand for the evolutional processes of erosive karst Tiankeng separately.Moreover,the evolutional processes of erosive karst Tiankeng could be divided into the following continuous processes:an erosive karst Tiankeng develops from the processes of eroding and dissolving & extending of silo Sinkhole,and subsequently degrades to a large gorge or doline.It is worth pointing out that except for erosion of flowing water,at the same time,collapse effect has been playing extremely important role in the forming processes of these special erosive landforms.     

地质遗迹资源开发潜力评价——以中国房山世界地质公园为例

地质遗迹资源开发评价,在地质公园建设中发挥着重要作用。本文结合地质遗迹资源特性和地质公园建设要求,提出了地质公园地质遗迹资源开发潜力评价指标体系;采用层次分析和德尔菲法,进行多轮专家咨询,确定评价指标的权重;利用层次分析法和灰色系统理论,建立地质遗迹资源开发潜力评价模型;并运用该评价模型,对中国房山世界地质公园8个园区的地质遗迹资源进行评价,确定模型和各评价值指标选择的合理性。研究结果表明,该模型可为地质公园建设和地质旅游开发提供参考。