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Geodiversity

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 panorama noordwesthoek dunes Netherlands

 

 

 

 

 

 


Photo: Bert Buizer 


 
Geodiversity is defined as the natural range (diversity) of geological features (rocks, minerals, fossils, structures), geomorphological features (landforms and processes) and soil features that make up the landscape. It includes their assemblages, relationships, properties, interpretations and systems (Gray, 2004).
 
 
 

snowstorm, wadden sea.jpgThe processes that have shaped the British Isles give us a particularly rich geological heritage. This land was once located in the tropics, its deserts replaced by equatorial forests and swamps as it drifted North, becoming desert again in time. The now quiet landscape was disrupted by volcanoes and glaciers have repeatedly advanced and retreated. We often discover a preserved record of the geological processes that have shaped the land today when for example, quarrying exposes rock or erosion reveals fossils in cliffs. These records aren’t permanent however, and are vulnerable to damage or loss if they are treated inappropriately. In a similar way to biodiversity loss, the economic advancement of humans has involved activities which have been detrimental to a legacy which took millions of years to develop.

 
 
stratified dune.jpg
 
 
This legacy of the geological past – rocks, soils, landforms, comprises our earth heritage. The term geoconservation has been applied to efforts to better understand and preserve this heritage. However, it is not just the preservation of static records but the preservation of geological processes still occurring today which is relevant to the network. There is perhaps no better current visual embodiment of geological change than shifting sand dunes, moving metres a year, eroding and accreting. 
 
 
 
 
 
The following pages will examine geodiversity and geoconservation in general terms and also specific to sand dunes and shingle.
 

 

 

These pages were compiled using some of the resources below. Other links are embedded throughout this section on geodiversity.


Coastal Geomorphology of Great Britain, Geological Conservation Review Series, No. 28. Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Peterborough.
Gray, M. 2004. Geodiversity: valuing and conserving abiotic nature. Wiley, Chichester.
Prosser, C., Murphy, M. and Larwood, J., 2006. Geological Conservation a guide to good practice. English Nature. Available here

http://www.natureonthemap.org.uk/map.aspx
http://www.geo-east.org.uk/index.html
http://www.geoconservation.com

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 26 January 2011 )
 
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