GSNZ Otago branch talk
Semi-quantitative assessment of Geodiversity based on Samoa Islands, Mayor/Tuhua Island, and Coromandel Peninsula with Vladislav Zakharovskyi – Massey University
Humans have become increasingly aware of the need for ecological conservation with the goal of protecting Earth’s biodiversity. Geodiversity has recently been analogously coined to refer to diversity in abiotic nature. This covers many elements from geology and geomorphology to climate and cultural heritage. Boundaries between these elements are not well-defined, with researchers viewpoints influencing assessment methods, often applicable only to specific locations.
In this project, we concentrate on simple semi-quantitative assessment of geodiversity with the goal of assessing potential geosites to minimize the area of field observation. The methodology is based on simple calculation with low data requirements utilizing free GIS software. The assessment concentrates on the core parameters of abiotic nature, which are geological (rock formations) and geomorphological (topography) elements. Additional regional parameters can be easily included into calculation to emphasize some specific areas in the territory of research.
Semi-quantitative assessment of geodiversity has been already applied on three locations with different rock types and relief: Coromandel Peninsula, Mayor Island and Samoa Islands. All of them show different stages of methodological improvements. Evaluation is based on 7-point (and higher stage for rarest rock types and outcrop surfaces) for geological and geomorphological elements. Additionally, volcanological heritage are specifically evaluated and included into assessment for Samoa and Mayor Islands. The next step is improvement of evaluation system and include more elements into the assessment.
Join via Zoom: https://bit.ly/otagogeology
Contact: jack.williams@otago.ac.nz