Interpretation as a Vital Ingredient of Geotourism in Coastal Environments: The Geology of Sea Level Change, Rottnest Island, Western Australia

Abstract

At a time of increasing global awareness of the exploitation of the Earth's resources and the environmental impacts of human activity, this article stresses the importance of geological education. It highlights that in a tourism hot spot containing globally significant geological features and processes, it is essential to create educational interpretative themes that provide engaging scientific information to generate appreciation and awareness of climate change. Appropriate literature is reviewed, which includes a brief account of the geology of Rottnest Island. The review emphasizes the interpretive importance of carbonate geological features displaying evidence of sea level change events, exposures of Late Pleistocene aeolionite, and Holocene dune formations. Sea level change is regarded as an especially relevant geological theme for interpretative product development on the island. Such a theme provides the foundation for the interpretation of scientific data that can link the visitor to the significance of environmental change. The article concludes that educative geological themes, as presented via tourism, can provide a dialogue between the public, scientists, and the media about global climate change.