The geodiversity mapping of Hungary
- Eötvös Loránd University, Faculty of Informatics, Department of Cartography and Geoinformatics, Budapest, Hungary (marchello@map.elte.hu)
The assessment, evaluation, and visualisation of geodiversity is a useful tool when trying to consider geoscientific values for e.g. establishing a geopark or any geo-related tourism attraction. A comprehensive geodiversity analysis and mapping of the whole area of Hungary has not yet been carried out, even though there are two UNESCO Global Geoparks (UGGPs) and an aspiring UGGp in the country. In the present study we have gathered lithological, pedological, palaeontological, mineralogical, and landform data were collected and analysed following Pereira et al. (2013) and Pál & Albert (2021). The geodiversity map is an aggregation of all determined geoscientific subindices evaluated automatically in a GIS environment. Due to the medium scale of the source data, the diversity resolution of the generated map (geodatabase) corresponds to a 2 km grid, although the visualisation can be pseudo-isoline or heatmap style instead of displaying the grid cells.
The results support the delineation of the existing UGGPs and give hints about further abiotic nature conservation development opportunities. Due to the methodology applied, the assessment results and the map can be compared with similar maps in other countries. This quantitative evaluation is intended to serve as a benchmark for the Hungarian Geosite Inventory project currently in the planning phase, but the visualised map could also serve as a tool for promoting earth sciences in schools and existing geotourism centres.
MP was supported by the ÚNKP-22-3 New National Excellence Program of the Ministry for Innovation and Technology from the source of the National Research, Development and Innovation (NRDI) Fund. MP and GA was supported by project no. TKP2023-NVA-29 by the Ministry of Innovation and Technology of Hungary from the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund, financed under the TKP2021-NVA funding scheme.
Pereira, D.I., Pereira, P., Brilha, J., Santos, L. (2013): Geodiversity assessment of Paraná State (Brazil): An innovative approach. Environmental Management, vol. 52, pp. 541–552. DOI: 10.1007/s00267-013-0100-2
Pál, M., Albert, G (2021): Refinement Proposals for Geodiversity Assessment—A Case Study in the Bakony–Balaton UNESCO Global Geopark, Hungary. ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. vol. 10, 566. DOI: 10.3390/ijgi10080566
How to cite: Pál, M. and Albert, G.: The geodiversity mapping of Hungary, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 24–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-12955, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-12955, 2023.
