Inventory of Geological Records in the Carmo Natural Park, São Paulo, Brazil: An Incentive for Geoconservation

Abstract

With an area of 2,339 km2, the Carmo Natural Park is located in the eastern part of the São Paulo metropolitan region and offers a range of basic services for visitors to enjoy a variety of cultural attractions and outdoor sports activities. From a conservation perspective, the geological units and structures that have been cataloged also have high educational potential. These records reveal tectonic events and/or metamorphic processes that occurred hundreds of millions of years ago and can be used for a variety of academic proposals and different groups of people to develop new cognitive skills and understand the geological processes that have shaped the landscape of the Earth’s surface. A clear understanding of the mechanisms by which geological features were formed will help the general population find effective solutions to the challenges posed by different geological processes that directly affect daily lives. In light of what has been mentioned, and given that the selected geosites bring together lithological units that provide ideal conditions to illustrate and explain a set of geological processes that have occurred at different scales and magnitudes, the integration of these data with other areas of knowledge, in particular with those of land use planning, should allow the implementation of programs to minimize geological risks, environmental protection, and rational use of non-renewable natural resource.