Geodiversity is the variety of earth materials, forms and processes that constitute and shape the Earth, either the whole or a specific part of it.Zwolinski, Zb. 2004. ''Geodiversity'', in: ''Encyclopedia of Geomorphology'', A.Goudie (ed.), Routledge: pp. 417-418. Relevant materials include

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. ( ...

rocks In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks form the Earth's ...

sediment Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sand an ...

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former te ...

s and

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

. Forms may comprise folds, faults,

landform A landform is a natural or anthropogenic land feature on the solid surface of the Earth or other planetary body. Landforms together make up a given terrain, and their arrangement in the landscape is known as topography. Landforms include hills, ...

s and other expressions of morphology or relations between units of earth material. Any natural process that continues to act upon, maintain or modify either material or form (for example

tectonics Tectonics (; ) are the processes that control the structure and properties of the Earth's crust and its evolution through time. These include the processes of mountain building, the growth and behavior of the strong, old cores of continents k ...

sediment transport Sediment transport is the movement of solid particles (sediment), typically due to a combination of gravity acting on the sediment, and/or the movement of the fluid in which the sediment is entrained. Sediment transport occurs in natural system ...

pedogenesis Soil formation, also known as pedogenesis, is the process of soil genesis as regulated by the effects of place, environment, and history. Biogeochemical processes act to both create and destroy order (anisotropy) within soils. These alterations l ...

) represents another aspect of geodiversity. However geodiversity is not normally defined to include the likes of landscaping, concrete or other significant human influence.Gray, M. 2004. ''Geodiversity: Valuing and Conserving Abiotic Nature''. John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Overview

Geodiversity is neither homogeneously distributed nor studied across the planet. The identification of geodiversity hotspots (e.g. the islands of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

and

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

) may be indicative not simply of the distribution of geodiversity but also of the status of

geoconservation Geoconservation is the practice of recognising, protecting and managing sites and landscapes which have value for their geology or geomorphology. Geoconservation is carried out by a wide range of organisations from local geological societies to gov ...

initiatives. In this regard it is worth noting that the

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

of an ecosystem stems at least in part from its underlying geology. With the majority of biological species remaining undescribed the classification and quantification of geodiversity is not an abstract exercise in geotaxonomy but a necessary part of mature nature conservation efforts, which also requires a geoethical approach. According to Ponciano et al geoheritage may be in situ (important geosites bearing any exceptional value, such as scientific, cultural, educational, touristic, etc) and ex situ (minerals, fossils, minerals and rocks that were extracted from their origin site and housed in scientific collections and have notable scientific, cultural, educational, touristic or any other value. These authors also consider any extremely valuable reference to these geodiversity elements as ex situ geoheritage, including therefore field notebooks, papers, photographs, maps, dissertations, books, etc. These references often bear historical and scientific value as, for instance, paleontologist Kenneth Caster's field notebooks which provided informations on unknown fossil localities ). Later (2016), José Brilha argues geodiversity may be of scientific value or valued for other aspects. Geodiversity of scientific value can be either geosites or geoheritage elements that are ''

ex situ Svalbard GLOBAL SEED BANK, an ''ex situ'' conservation. ''Ex situ'' conservation literally means, "off-site conservation". It is the process of protecting an endangered species, variety or breed, of plant or animal outside its natural habitat; ...

'' (not encompassing references to these elements such as dissertations, letters and field notebooks as geoheritage). Similarly geodiversity that is of little or no scientific value may be categorized as sites of geodiversity or geodiversity elements that are ''ex situ''. Geodiversity also constitutes an important part of developing nature-based solutions to global environmental challenges and demands for natural resources. For example, a recent study argued that the acute lack of considering geodiversity in international conventions and monitoring frameworks poses a threat to achieving the UN

Sustainable Development Goals The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or Global Goals are a collection of 17 interlinked objectives designed to serve as a "shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future".United Nations (2017) R ...

.Schrodt, F. et al. (2019),
To advance sustainable stewardship, we must document not only biodiversity but geodiversity
. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116, 33, 16155-16158. .

Overview

See also

References

Further reading