Geological Park Research Articles

The Praxis of Langkawi's Sustainable Regeneration Strategy through Eco-tourism

The praxis of the island resort's adaptation to the changing environment includes good socio-economic policies suitable to the island's core attraction, the pristine geological parks. In the case of the island resort of Langkawi, the artisanal agricultural livelihood has been replaced by eco-tourism, hence, limiting the income of the indigenous people. Therefore, the aim of the paper is to provide insights on the indigenous communities’ strategy in leveraging eco-tourism demands with regenerated ecological resources in the island resort of Langkawi. The project employed qualitative methodology in gaining access to rich, in-depth data. The findings showed that the Langkawi locals have yet to adapt to change but with proper political interventions, the islanders’ socio-economic well-being should continue to leverage the natural resources.

Chrysophycean stomatocysts from the Aershan Geological Park (Inner Mongolia), China

The Aershan National Geological Park (46–47° 39’ N, 119–121° 28’ E) characterized by volcanic landforms clusters is situated in south-west of the Great Xing’an Mountains. The investigation of chrysophycean stomatocysts was carried out based on sampling five times in this area. 171 morphotypes which were observed using scanning electron microscopy were identified and described in accordance with the guidelines of International Statospore Working Groupm (ISWG), 73 of them are new to science. It is hard to compare the stomatocysts community with that of other areas for the large number of unknown morphotypes, which indicated that amounts of study of stomatocysts morphology should be done in the whole Great Xing’an Mountains.

Analysis of the Geotouristic Activity in the Geologic Park of Aliaga, Spain: Progress, Threats and Challenges for the Future

Geotourism has been defined in a number of ways from a broad spectrum ‘geographic’ approach to a more specific definition related to geology and geomorphology. This second approach includes the idea that learning and geoconservation are the main purposes of geotourism, which promote sustainable tourism development based on visitors’ geological experiences. The Geologic Park of Aliaga (Teruel) in Spain was created in 1993, and it is a pioneer in the development of parks as a means of focusing on exceptional national and international geoheritage. The experience acquired during 10 years, by the local company that was appointed to manage the geotourism within the park, has caused an effective multidisciplinary approach which promotes geoscientific knowledge in for a range of audiences. Nevertheless, this interpretative activity is mainly threatened by the absence of any strategy which includes geoconservation caused by a lack of economic funds and legal competencies to drive effective regulative, informative and scientific measures. These threats will affect the future and the sustainable local development promoted in the present by the Geologic Park.

Rock Slope Stability Evaluation in a Steep-Walled Canyon: Application to Elevator Construction in the Yunlong River Valley, Enshi, China

A passenger elevator is to be built on a nearly vertical slope in the National Geological Park in Enshi, Hubei province, China. Three steps comprise the construction: excavating the slope toe for the elevator platform, building the elevator on the platform, and affixing the elevator to the slope using anchors. To evaluate the rock slope stability in the elevator area and the safety of the elevator construction, we applied three techniques: qualitative analysis, formula calculation, and numerical simulation methods, based on field investigation and parameter selection, and considering both wet and dry conditions, pre- and post-construction. Qualitative stability factors for sliding and falling were calculated using the limit equilibrium method; the results show that the slope as a whole is stable, with a few unstable blocks, notably block BT1. Formula-based stability factors were calculated for four sections on block BT1, revealing the following: anchors will decrease the stability of certain rock pieces; the lowest average stability factor after anchoring will be K f = 1.36 in wet conditions; block BT1 should be reinforced during elevator construction, up to a first-class slope stability factor of K f = 1.40; and the slope as a whole is stable. Numerical simulation using FLAC3D indicated that the stress distribution will reach equilibrium for all steps before and after construction, and that the factor of safety (FOS) is within the general slope safety range (FOS > 1.05). We suggest that unstable pieces in block BT1 be reinforced during construction to a first-class slope safety range (FOS > 1.3), and that deformation monitoring on the slope surface be implemented.

Research on the Sustainable Development and the Geological Heritage Protection of Taishan National Geopark

the Taishan geological park is located in the central province of our country Shandong. which between Ji'nan, Changqing,Feicheng and Tai'an, under the jurisdiction of Tai'an city. As a national geological park, Taishan is also one of the world geological parks, many of the geological relics have a very important scientific research value in the tip subject. In the economic development, city image building, historical and cultural heritage and other aspects, it also plays an indispensable role. Therefore, this paper will discussed the present situation of exploitation and utilization of Taishan geological park, to promote the protection of geological heritage management and sustainable development in Taishan.

The Phototropism of Jurassic Petrified Wood in North China Plate

Trees on the side directly exposed to sunlight generally grow faster than on the opposite side, a phenomenon termed plant phototropism. There are in situ vertical trunks of silicified wood in the Xiadelongwan area of Yanqing County, north Beijing, where the first National Geologic Park of Petrified Wood of China has been built since 2002. A few trunks have well-preserved growth rings. One petrified stump from the formation shows a positive phototropism direction of SW230°. As compared with the modern normal growth stumps in Beijing plain area, which have a positive phototropism direction of SW210 ° ± 5°, the evidence of wood phototropism supports the conclusion of previous palaeomagnetic studies that the North China Plate has rotated clockwise since the Late Jurassic. The known petrified wood stumps in the Yanshan-Liaoning area are mainly found from the strata of 165–136 Ma, which corresponds to the main stage of the Yanshanian Movement.

Determination of fatty acids in soil samples by gas chromatography with mass spectrometry coupled with headspace solid-phase microextraction using a homemade sol-gel fiber.

Through the use of a homemade sol-gel-derived fiber, a headspace solid-phase microextraction technique coupled to gas chromatography with mass spectrometry was developed for the determination of fatty acids with long, even-numbered carbon chains (C12 -C24 ) in soil samples. The experimental parameters such as reaction time, temperature, and ionic strength that might affect derivatization, extraction, and desorption were investigated. Under the optimized conditions, the linearity of the method ranged from 0.1 to 100mg/L with a correlation coefficient >0.997. The limit of detection values based on a signal-to-noise ratio of 3:1 were determined with the concentration from 0.39 to 39.4μg/L. The recoveries of the method for the soil samples were from 91.15 to 108.1%. This developed method using a homemade fiber showed a higher sensitivity than that using a commercial polydimethylsiloxane fiber and was also for the analysis of real soil samples from the Paomaling geological park of China.

Important Dinosaur-dominated footprint assemblages from the Lower Cretaceous Tianjialou Formation at the Houzuoshan Dinosaur Park, Junan County, Shandong Province, China

Multiple track-bearing levels in Lower Cretaceous fluvial successions at the Houzuoshan Dinosaur Park also known as the “Junan Geological Park of Dinosaurian Relic” in Junan County, Shandong Province, China, have recently become globally famous for the unique vertebrate footprints they yield. These include Shandongornipes, the first zygodactyl bird track reported from the fossil record, Dromaeopodus, the first reported trackway of a large dromaeosaur, and a new ichnospecies of Minisauripus. However, these important trackways represent only a small part of the vertebrate track record at the Houzuoshan Dinosaur Park site. Herein we describe the entire ichnofaunas representing 12 discrete mapped assemblages (surfaces) at 20 different stratigraphic levels. In total we have recorded more than 360 footprints comprising at least 130 individual trackways, belonging to eight named ichnogenera of which five (Grallator sensu lato, Asianopodus, Minisauripus, Velociraptorichnus and Dromaeopodus) are attributed to non-avian theropods, one (Ornithopodichnus) to an ornithopod and two (Shandongornipes and Koreanaornis) to birds (avian theropods). This remarkable track record allows us to characterize the ichnofaunas as one of the most distinctive and diverse yet reported from the entire Mesozoic. The ichnofauna is heavily theropod-dominated representing almost ∼90% of the total trackways, with Asianopodus the most ubiquitous track type occurring at 18 of the 20 (or 90%) of the observed levels and representing ∼74% of all trackways. None of the other track types occur at more than 5 levels or represent more than 8.3% of the trackways. Such theropod-domination is consistent with patterns noted for other Lower Cretaceous ichnofaunas from China.

Variation with height of aeolian mass flux density and grain size distribution over natural surface covered with coarse grains: A mobile wind tunnel study

Abstract The vertical distributions of aeolian mass flux density and grain size with height over the natural surface covered with coarse grains were investigated using a mobile wind tunnel in the Yardang Geological Park, Dunhuang, China. Results reveal that the mass flux density of mix-sized sediments decays exponentially with increasing height. However, the mass flux density profiles of separate grain-size groups depend on size grading: those of coarse sand groups (0.8–2.0 mm) can be described by exponential decay functions while those of fine sand groups (0.063–0.8 mm) can be expressed by Gaussian distribution functions. Therefore, the mass flux density profile of mix-sized saltating particles is a superposition of many different profiles. In addition, results of grain-size analysis show that the size distribution of eroded sediments close to the ground reflects that of the loose material in the parent soil. The mean grain size first deceases remarkably with increasing height in the near-surface region, this trend is reversed at heights of 60–80 or 120–140 mm above the bed and then there is a coarsening trend of mean size with height. Sorting only improves with height in the region above 80 or 100 mm, but it declines in the near-bed region. These experimental data are significant for studies of heterogeneous saltation and numerical modeling of grain trajectories.

Planomicrobium soli sp. nov., isolated from soil.

A Gram-staining-positive bacterium, designated strain XN13(T), was isolated from a soil sample collected from ALaShan National Geological Park in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China and subjected to a taxonomic study using a polyphasic approach. Strain XN13(T) was found to have a range of chemical and morphological properties consistent with its classification in the genus Planomicrobium. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain XN13(T) was related to members of the genus Planomicrobium. The closest phylogenetic relatives were Planomicrobium okeanokoites NBRC 12536(T), Planomicrobium koreense JG07(T), Planomicrobium mcmeekinii S23F2(T) and Planomicrobium flavidum ISL-41(T) with 98.2%, 97.8%, 97.8% and 97.7% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, respectively. The major cellular fatty acids were anteiso-C(15 : 0), C(16 : 1)ω7c alcohol, iso-C(14 : 0) and C(16 : 1)ω11c. The predominant menaquinones were MK-8 and MK-7. The DNA G+C content was 40.3 mol%. The DNA-DNA relatedness values between strain XN13(T) and Planomicrobium okeanokoites KCTC 3672(T), Planomicrobium koreense KCTC 3684(T), P. mcmeekinii CGMCC 1.2724(T), Planomicrobium flavidum KCTC 13261(T), Planomicrobium chinense CGMCC 1.3454(T) and Planomicrobium glaciei CGMCC 1.6846(T) were 36%, 30%, 34%, 29%, 30% and 31%, respectively. The organism is different from recognized species of the genus Planomicrobium in several phenotypic characteristics. On the basis of phenotypic and genotypic properties, strain XN13(T) represents a novel species of the genus Planomicrobium, for which the name Planomicrobium soli sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is XN13(T) ( = CGMCC 1.12259(T) = KCTC 33047(T)).

基于PRED协调的青海互助北山国家地质公园发展初探

青海互助北山国家地质公园位于青藏高原和黄土高原的过渡带，地质遗迹丰富多样，是生态环境的重要组成部分。地质公园建设要立足公园实际系统配套开发，在保护地质遗迹的同时，要做到协调可持续发展。本文以PRED协调理论为指导，从互助北山国家地质公园实际出发，对其辖区人口、管理机构和地质资源现状进行研究，指出要充分调动人的积极性，科学管理、整合资源，要与所属区域的经济、社会、环境协调发展，公园发展才会更加合理，最终带动区域的协调发展。The transition belt of the huzhu Beishan Mountain national Geopark is located in the Tibetan pla-teau and the Loess plateau in Qinghai province, with a rich variety of geological heritage and is an important part of ecological environment. Geological park construction should be based on the park’s reality, at the same time, geological relics should be protected and the coordinated and sustainable development should be achieved. This paper is based on the PRED coordination theory and practice of the huzhu Beishan Mountain national Geopark, studies the jurisdiction population, management institutions and geological resources to fully arouse the enthusiasm of people, scien-tific management and integration of resources, and belongs to the region economic, social and en-vironmental development, then the park development will be more reasonable, and promote the coordinated development of region finally.

Turning a Forgotten Geological Heritage into a Geological Park: Developing Stonehammer Geopark

Stonehammer Geopark, North America’s first member of the Global Geoparks Network, developed in a region with a long history of geological exploration and a tradition of public education in the geosciences. The remarkable geological complexity centred on the city of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, nurtured a homegrown group of professional and amateur geologists in the early 1800s. Many became internationally known for their work, and the institutions they created were at the forefront of research and public education from the middle nineteenth to early twentieth century. By the 1920s, it had mostly disappeared from the community. By the end of the twentieth century, geoscience heritage was largely a forgotten part of the community’s understanding of its past. The creation of a global geopark has brought stories of the region’s geology back to the public attention by providing geological interpretation of existing parks and trails that had originally developed largely because of the scenic geology. Storytelling, bolstered by researching the lives and contributions of those people in the community who made the geology internationally known, is seen as an important part of reviving a community sense of its geoscience heritage.

Geoconservation and geotourism in Luochuan Loess National Geopark, China

The Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP) is the largest area of loess deposits in the world. Loess sediments in the CLP have high scientific value for global climate change research and are also important resources for tourism, especially science-based tourism. Unfortunately, loess conservation and geotourism do not attract much attention from the general public in China. This study briefly introduces the history of geoconservation and geotourism in China and uses Luochuan Loess National Geopark (LLNG) as an example to review problems with the development of geotourism and geoconservation. The main problems identified are inadequate measures to protect the loess geoheritage, a conflict between ecological restoration and scientific observation, ineffective interpretation of geological features for visitors, a lack of an engaging way to exhibit the materials in the Loess Museum and insufficient financial support. We propose new strategies for the sustainable development of LLNG, such as improving infrastructure, improving management actions, planting grass rather than trees for ecological restoration, popularizing science and increasing its practical use, developing a modern geological museum, and integrating the park into a global network of geological parks.

Pterosaur trackways from the Lower Cretaceous Jiaguan Formation (Barremian–Albian) of Qijiang, Southwest China

The Lotus Fortress tracksite in the Qijiang National Geological Park, in Qijiang District, Chongqing Municipality consists of two distinct assemblages associated with different surfaces (Qijiang Layers 1 and 2). The lower of these two assemblages, here labeled as the “Wupus-Pteraichnus ichnoassemblage” is dominated by multiple, mainly parallel trackways of a small tridactyl and five trackways of pterosaurs (Pteraichnus). The upper surface assemblage, here labeled as the “Caririchnium ichnoassemblage”, is dominated by the tracks of ornithopods (Caririchnium lotus). Here we give a detailed description of the Pteraichnus tracks and evaluate their paleoecological significance together with other reports of pterosaur tracks from East Asia.

Design Engineering to Control Geological Environmental Problems of Limestone Mine in Fengshan, Guangxi

Geo-environmental treatment projects had not been implemented in many old mines of China. Those mines environment has got increasingly deteriorated. So the government provides specialized policies and funding to solve the environmental problems of those mines. Based on the characteristics of the geological environmental treatment projects of old mines, the paper puts forward the principle and index of the treatment projects design and applies in the design of Fengshan limestone mine, Guangxi. It indicated that: (1)The geological environment problems are complex and diverse, and the treatment projects involve a multi-disciplinary cross which are environmental geology, ecology geology, geotechnical engineering, environmental engineering and landscape works. It needs to consider the follow key indicators: Geo-environment problems, Feasibility, Benefit, and social demand. (2) the limestone mine in FengShan is high 134m, and there had happened a collapse which had 2.1×104 m3, and killed 6 people. The geo-environment problems include rockfall, rock collapse, land and vegetation destruction, and landscape damage. The mine local in the Leye-Fengshan International Geological Park in Guangxi, the requests for travel security and sight-viewing environment are extremely high. Therefore, drainage, anchoring, rockfalls platforms and rock carvings would be implemented for the purpose of transforming the mine into a sight spot in the park.(3) The treatment projects eliminate the geo-hazard and build the world-class carving attractions reflect the benefit of the project management from the environment, economy and society aspects.

3D Modeling of Underground Geological Park Based on Terrestrial Laser Scanner

The main idea of this paper is to describe the application of Terrestrial Laser Scanner in 3D modeling. Considering the special terrain structure of underground geological park, a 3D modeling procedure based on Terrestrial Laser Scanner is designed. The graphs of vertical cross-section and horizontal cross-section are achieved after model optimization. Experiments show that the method can work better than Ground-based measurements in 3D modeling of underground geological park. The 3D model of underground geological park can be used to monitor the amount of mining and get the graphs of vertical cross-section and horizontal cross-section, which will be applied widely in future.

Research on Geological Relic Resources Evaluation and Protection of Qingfengshan Geological Park in Fang County, China

As important material basis that composes of geological park, geological relic resource is a kind of rare and non-renewable resource. With the characteristics of typicality, scarcity, and integrity, geological relic resources such as Qingfeng Fracture, Qingfeng Grand Canyon and Magmatic intrusion of Qingfengshan Geological Park in Fang County of China, have very high scientific value and aesthetic ornamental value. Turning off small mines enterprises, setting up protective blocks, establishing geological park management mechanism and carrying out other measures can achieve effective protection of the geological relic resources of geological park.

Application of multimedia methodology for investigation of karst water in highland regions of Ha Giang Province, Vietnam

Ha Giang is one of the largest, northern border provinces of Vietnam, consisting of four districts: Yen Minh, Quan Ba, Dong Van and Meo Vac. This province features varied karst landscape of Carboniferous–Permian limestone. The region has been recognized by UNESCO as one of the 77 geological parks in the world and the second in Southeast Asia on 3 October 2012. In the dry season, little or no rain is recorded; therefore, surface water is very scarce. For this reason, proper delineation and exploitation of the groundwater resource is critical for sustainable water supply. This has been identified as an important challenge under the scientific project KC-08-10 in the national program KC-08. Remote sensing and GIS were used to decipher the signature of karst water in the highland of Ha Giang. Information layers generated were subjected to multi-criteria evaluation using analytic hierarchy process for decision making to identify ideal locations for groundwater prospecting. The study resulted in delineation of ten zones for all regions and 18 ideal drilling sites in Tam Son Town of Quan Ba District. Drilling and resistivity soundings were performed to assess the success of the interpretation. Deep resistivity survey confirmed low resistivity (200–300 Ωm) near the identified potential sites in Tam Son Town of Quan Ba District. Further, successful drilling at site LKTS1 with a discharge of 7–9 l/s is observed, proving the potential of this methodology for rapid exploration of groundwater in water-scare karst terrains of Vietnam.

An evaluation of residents’ perceptions of the creation of a geopark: a case study on the geopark in Mt. Huaying Grand Canyon, Sichuan Province, China

In recent years, geoparks (a geoheritage effort to protect geological features) have been vigorously promoted in China and abroad. The evaluation of a geopark is important for geopark development. However, current evaluation methods focus on geoheritage and their values, and often ignore residents’ situations, even though community participation is essential to the sustainable development of geoparks. In this paper, the Mt. Huaying Grand Canyon Geological Park was selected as a study area to evaluate resident’s perceptions of the park. Perception impact factors were selected from the perspective of the park residents. Quantitative evaluation models, based on data from questionnaires, were created using the hierarchy process model and expert evaluation method. The results showed that the following factors influenced residents’ perceptions, listed from the most significant to the least: residents’ understanding of geoheritage, participation level in commercial activities, participation level in planning decisions, satisfaction level regarding benefit distribution and level of participation willingness. It was found that residents’ level of understanding of geoheritage and their participation level in planning decisions were the main reasons for poorer perceptions of geoheritage. The keys to improving residents’ perceptions of geoheritage are to change the management system, implement people-centered policies and to establish a government-led management mode that encourages community participation and involves private business contracts.

从景观生态地图之建构探讨出磺坑产业地景之活化

苗栗县公馆乡的出磺坑是台湾第一口以石油与天然气开采为主的油井，也是全世界第二口油井，然而随着采油量减少而逐年没落，近来地方政府计划将出磺坑的产业地景重新整理，并开放为观光游憩区，却因未对本区的自然与人文资源详加调查之前即匆忙发包许多硬件工程，对植被的完整性与动物资源造成很大的破坏。鉴于传统的生态调查多为建立一份动植物的学名清单，并无法反应出物种间的依存关系，也无法反应其在空间上的分布区位，对实质环境规划的帮助有限，因此，本研究从环境永续经营的理念，将资源调查结果套绘于地形图上，为出磺坑的自然环境与产业地景建构一份景观生态地图，据以建议适宜的土地利用与经营型态，以达到产业地景活化与再利用的目的，研究结果同时建议出磺坑未来应朝向“生态地质园区”发展，以保全其亚热带阔叶林与产业地景，进而成为台湾生态旅游与教学之环境教育据点。 The Chu Hung Keng oil field is the first gas and oil field in Taiwan, which is also the second oil field devel-oped in the world. Followed with the reduction in oil production, it induced the come-down of Chu Hung Keng district concurrently. Local government thus planned to reform the oil field as a tourist spot by activating its industrial land-scape. However, many improper actions proceeded without surveying local natural and cultural resources. As a result, the integrity of fauna and flora were seriously destroyed. Instead of showing the interdependent relationship or the niche of species, traditional ecological survey only provides a name list of local wildlife, which is actually not practical for environmental planning. In this study, the natural and cultural resources were surveyed and mapped on the topographic map. Subsequently, a landscape ecological map was constructed. It aimed to bring forward a more appropriate land use and management for Chu Hung Keng district with a concept of sustainable management. By taking local natural and cultural resources into account, the industrial landscape could be activated and reused in a more proper manner. Our results suggested that, in order to preserve the subtropical broad-leaved forest and industrial landscape, the Chu Hung Keng oil field should be developed into an ecological and geological park. Furthermore, it could become an excellent place for environmental education and ecotourism.