Inventory of geosites as an instrument for the management and preservation of the geological memory: example of vulnerable geosites of the Taubaté Basin (São Paulo State, Brazil)

Abstract

The Taubaté Basin occupies an area of approximately 2400 km² in the eastern portion of the state of São Paulo, in the central part of the so-called "Continental Rift of Southeastern Brazil". The region represents a key location in the understanding of the geological history related to post-Gondwana and has high geodiversity that has been affected both by anthropic activities and the result of natural processes. For this reason, as a way to promote the geoconservation of the outcrops that are representative of the rift evolution, an inventory of the region's geological heritage was carried out. Three geological frameworks were defined to encompass the context of rift evolution: (i) basin opening; (ii) Neogenic deposition and deformation; and (iii) Quaternary deformation and landform evolution. The 38 potential geosites were initially selected through bibliographical survey, consultation with researchers and fieldwork. Subsequent field work revealed that many of the points described in the literature had either been destroyed or were extremely degraded. This way, the final list of the inventory was reduced to as few as 18 geosites. The qualitative evaluation of the inventory shows that anthropic actions, such as infrastructure work and mining activities, are the main cause of loss of local geodiversity. For this reason, the results of this inventory should be considered in public policies of territorial management, so as to allow the continuation of future studies in these places, in order to preserve the geoscientific memory of this important segment of southeastern Brazil.