156-8 Inventory of Uruguay's geological heritage based on geological frameworks

Session: Geoheritage Without Borders: International Perspectives on the Conservation and Celebration of Geodiversity, Part I

Presenting Author:

Mauricio Faraone

Authors:

Faraone, Mauricio¹, Brilha, José², Goso, César³

Abstract:

Although Uruguay is a small country in the South American context, its geology is complex and varied from a lithological and structural point of view. Its geological records range from the Archaean to the Phanerozoic, which means that its territory encompasses geological domains that represent a large part of the Earth's history. Despite its recognized geodiversity, the study of geological heritage is lacking, and inventories of geosites have only been carried out in geopark territories. In recent years, work on geological heritage in Uruguay has been consolidated at an academic level, reflecting a growing awareness among the national geoscientific community of the importance of this type of natural heritage, with a focus on its scientific value. However, there is still no systematic knowledge of geological heritage at a national level. It was therefore considered necessary to carry out a methodological approach to evaluating geological heritage at national level through an inventory of sites of geological interest in Uruguay, based on geological frameworks. This is a method that has already been applied in European countries and, in Brazil, at state level. It has been adapted here to the specificities of Uruguay, taking into account its territorial extension, the degree of geological knowledge of its territory and the resources available for its investigation. Nine geological frameworks were defined which together represent the country's geological history, as well as a preliminary list of around fifty potential geosites corresponding to these frameworks. This result was achieved with the collaboration of thirty specialists from different areas of geological research in Uruguay, in order to guarantee the necessary scientific consensus which is, among other things, one of the presuppositions for the validation of this inventory method. From the list of potential geosites, two geosites were selected and characterized for each geological framework, according to criteria of scientific value, with a view to producing a model that can be replicated in the near future. It is hoped that the results of this work will serve as the basis for the completion of the national inventory, which is expected to be incorporated into Uruguay's nature conservation legal framework, as well as serving as a contribution to the development of new geopark projects in the country.  

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Program. Vol. 57, No. 6, 2025

doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-4811

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