Is it Possible to Inventory Geoheritage Without Available Geological Maps? The Case of Lumignano and Costozza (Berici Hills, Northern Italy)

• Published in: Geoheritage Vol. 15; no. 2
• Main Authors: Chimento, Federica, Tusberti, Filippo, Brandano, Marco, Breda, Anna, Massironi, Matteo, Perissinotto, Maria Luisa, Preto, Nereo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.06.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Biogeosciences; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Geoheritage in SW Europe: advances and challenges; Geologic mapping; Geology; Hills; Historical Geology; Landscape/Regional and Urban Planning; Mineralogy; Original Article; Paleontology; Physical Geography; Italy; Geological mapping; Geoheritage; Coral reef; Oligocene; Geosite inventory
• DOI: 10.1007/s12371-023-00820-1
• ISSN: 1867-2477

   An inventory of 32 geodiversity sites and geosites has been compiled for an area characterized by high geodiversity, which also played a role in the history of geosciences. Aspects of the geology of Lumignano and Costozza (Berici Hills, northeastern Italy) have been mentioned since the 1500 s by architects that made use of building stones quarried in the area. Later on, and until the 1900s, the site was the subject of several geological studies. Nonetheless, a modern overview of local geology is still missing because of the scarcity of modern geological literature. More critically, modern geological maps are available, which makes the task of compiling a rational inventory of geodiversity sites particularly difficult. For this reason, we produced a new geological map which served as a base for compiling an inventory of 32 geodiversity sites and geosites that were ranked according to importance on a local scale. The inventory and map were then used to make popular science products that demonstrate the applicability of the work for geotouristic purposes. The critical importance of uniform and up-to-date geological knowledge of an area for the compilation of inventories of geodiversity is discussed on the basis of this case study. In the case of Italy, where the compilation of the geological map at the scale of 1:50,000 is severely incomplete, doubts could be cast that a reliable inventory of geosites could really be realized.