Volume 31 (2012): Issue 1 (March 2012)

Ethiopia constitutes one of the most significant environmental and cultural reserves on Earth. Ethiopia's natural and cultural tourist attractions are mostly associated with geological features: the active Ethiopian and Afar rifts as well as the Simien and Bale massifs are few examples. Ethiopia's cultural history, religious manifestations and civilization, like the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela and the stelae of Axum, are also imprinted in rock. Geomorphological and geological features, notably the isolation of the north-western highlands from the external world by the harsh Afar depression close to the sea, determined the route of Ethiopian history. Though tourism has been identified as a major sustainable development sector, systematic geoheritage evaluation and conservation strategies are lacking in the country. I this paper the Simien Mountains are presented as major geoheritages which should be prioritized for geoconservation in order to develop sustainable tourism (geotourism) in the area.

There is a wide literature on sinkhole or doline classification, formation and evolution. However, despite the fact that they are often characterised by spectacular morphological features, sinkholes are not normally described as geological resources which might be valuable for the society and worth of being promoted for their geomorphological importance. A series of sinkholes have been investigated in the Island of Gozo (Malta), some of which of notable size and high aesthetic interest. These sinkholes have been assessed applying a methodology which has been specifically set up with the aim of verifying whether any of them could be considered as geosites according to their scientific, additional (ecological, aesthetic, cultural) and use values. The paper shows the geosite assessment procedure and discusses its outputs, according to which 6 out of the 17 investigated sinkholes can be considered as geosites of geomorphological interest (geomorphosites). Finally, issues related to their enhancement and fruition are taken into account in the frame of potential geotourism strategies.

During the Hellenistic period, Xanthos and Letoon were respectively a large city and an important shrine in Lycia. Questions still remain about the geography of the Eşen Çayı delta during the first millennium BC: what were the features of the landscape surrounding the Letoon shrine? Where did the riverbed lie? Our analysis is based on a reconstruction of the geomorphological dynamics at work during the Holocene. These are then compared with historical, archaeological and literary sources. Sedimentary sampling shows that a marine bay was gradually closed during the formation of a coastline spit, which led to the development of a lagoon system. Lagoons and marshes remained predominant characteristics of the plain over a long period. A branch or a former channel of the Eşen Çayı was discovered close to the Letoon shrine. In recent decades, authorities, as well as UNESCO, are now making an effort to manage palaeoenvironmental reconstructions in their promotion of the tourist potential of archaeological sites. We propose a management project for the Letoon site.

The Water Framework Directive of the European Parliament and the European Union Council No 2000/60/EC, of 23rd October 2000, on the common water policy, modifies provisional rules of river monitoring. Being an EU country, Poland has been obliged to introduce the new regulations and, additionally, to elaborate and implement regional methods for hydromorphological assessment of quality of river water no later than 2006. In the present study, hydromorphological evaluation of the Łyna River along a 7-km-long section between Kortowo and Adrapy has been completed. Along this section, the Łyna is a lowland, gravel and highly natural river. Two methods of evaluation, based on different assumptions, were applied. One is a British method, called River Habitat Survey (RHS), whereas the other one is based on German methods, known as ecomorphological river evaluation, and has been developed by Ilnicki (University of Agriculture in Poznań). A comparative analysis of the usefulness of both methods was performed, based on the results obtained with each method. The scope of our study has been to include a survey of the flora, phytosociological relationships and fauna of the river and its environs. Both methods implied that the river was more natural upstream and the results are shown on maps. The ecomorphological river evaluation, according to Ilnicki, assesses the river along its entire course, which is in accord with the Directive's assumptions. In contrast, the RHS method, which analyses selected, 500-meter-long sections, results in a non-continuous river evaluation. I our study, the assessment by RHS led to the omission of the most valuable section of the river. However, RHS (owing to the HQA index) more accurately indicates anthropogenic influences on the river, unlike the ecomorphological evaluation by Ilnicki, which lacks such an index. Consequently, the estimation of the degree of naturalness or extent of man-made pressure is not free from some subjectivity, which means that the surveyor needs certain experience. The RHS method is objective and unambiguous but still needs adaptation to the Polish conditions. Both methods can be statistically elaborated. At present, it is difficult to compare the reliability of the results obtained by both methods. The RHS method requires an application of a reference group of rivers, which has not been prepared for Poland yet. Assuming that the RHS database on the examined rivers (the Department of Ecology and Environmental Protection, August Cieszkowski Agricultural University in Poznań) could correspond to that missing reference group for Polish rivers, the results obtained by both methods were comparable.

Substantial parts of the British Isles preserve landscapes that are the legacy of pre-Quaternary times. Some of these may be the result of burial and exhumation of pre-Cenozoic features. However, most landscapes post-date the Cretaceous transgression during which a Chalk mantle was laid down. Much of the British Isles became land during the Palaeogene and the Chalk cover was rapidly removed over large areas. Sea floor spre-ading, thermal uplift, and intrusion and extrusion of igneous material occurred. Landscapes also evolved in response to warm climatic conditions and this may have led to etchplanation. In the Neogene various surface formed and were affected by ongoing tectonic activity. Various estimates have been made of Cenozoic denu-dation rates and amounts, but they appear to have varied spatially and temporally. Landscapes which provide tangible evidence of pre-Quaternary times include those of north-east Scotland and southern England. Such ancient landscapes are important components of the Geoheritage of Britain.

Geodiversity is becoming widely considered alongside biodiversity by conservation agencies and has importance for geotourism. Geomorphology has a central role in understanding geodiversity, particularly at regional and local scales. By focusing on the processes that interact at the earth's surface and how they respond to external forcing, geomorphology analyses both landscape evolution and real-time changes over different timescales. Diversity reflects the complexity of process systems and history. Connectivity and sensitivity amongst landscape elements are highly varied over space and time, leading to divergence and increasing diversity over time. By using these principles within constrained chronologies of landscape change, studies of geodiversity can become a valuable tool in ecosystem management and the delivery of ecosystem services, including sustainable geotourism.

The aim of the work was to show the scale of changes of riverbeds in the conditions of Mediterranean climate and many ages of human impact, on the example of Icaria, an island situated in the eastern part of the Aegean Sea. The most altered riverbed fragments were selected and the main types of conversion were defined based on the terrain mapping and the interviews with the inhabitants. They are as follows: the increase in the seasonality of tides, the transformation of the riverbed fragments into paths, the narrowing of the riverbeds, the strengthening of their bottoms and banks, the partitioning of the riverbeds with the proprietary boundaries, the inclusion of the riverbeds into the irrigation system and the creation of infrastructure to be used by watermills. The riverbeds that were altered the most were the ones within villages, up to 400 m above sea level.

Changes described were taking place in stages. In antiquity they concerned only the estuary parts. Until the 1950s they covered arable areas inside the island. After 1970 there followed a drastic diminishing of flows in the riverbeds and there appeared riverbeds with artificial bottoms.

The paper indicates the relations between geodiversity and geotourism in the Tatra National Park. Geodiversity of the Tatra Mountains is visualized by its geodiversity map, whereas geotouristic attractions are measured by touristic attractions along touristic trails on geodiversity map. Areas of the highest geodiversity cover merely 8.2% of the Tatar National Park area. These are mainly areas close to the Tatra Mountains' main ridge. It is so due to geology, landform energy, slopes, landform fragmentation and geoecological belts. Most of the analyzed thematic layers categorizes ridges as more geodiversed than valley areas. The trails situated in the valley bottoms usually cross by areas of low geodiversity, however, from geotouristic point of view, it should be noted that slopes and ridges circumvolving the valley can be marked by high geodiversity. The mountain slopes and ridges are within tourist's sight, what increases trail's geotouristic attractiveness. Amongst many geotouristically interesting parts of the Tatra Mountains Dolina Pięciu Stawów valley appears to be the most appealing with its high quantity and high variety of post-glacial forms on valley's bottom as well as on its slopes.