Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
5. Status of the site, e.g., managed by Ahaggar National
Park.
6. Geological interest of the geosite, e.g., the Paleoproter-
ozo
c community must have a role to play in this
endeavour, and for that reason GeoAl project was initiated.
The GeoAl project refers to the creation of a general
inventory by use of an internet database and should be made
available as broadly as possible. This database could
become, in collaboration with the largest number possible of
contributors (as the required work is large), a reference tool,
allowing the Algerian public authorities to have the fullest
possible knowledge of the exceptional geological sites that
exist in Algeria, tourists to have a guide to visit the most
beautiful and most educational places, and students to have a
list of the most educational sites for their training. This
project is also a tool for intelligent and ef
The scienti
c metamorphism of In Ouzzal is considered as one
of the most extreme in the world (international interest).
7. Educational interest: e.g., knowing the various types of
volcanic rocks, to recognise a dome and basins struc-
tures typical of the Archaean.
8. Schedule Interest: e.g., panafrican granitic circular
massif in In Ouzzal.
9. Touristic and cultural interest: e.g., volcanic landscapes
beauty, the hermitage of Charles de Foucauld, presence
of prehistoric engravings and paintings
ï
…
10. Vulnerability and threats, e.g., the destruction of several
outcrops of carbonatites
cient management
of geosites, ensuring their protection and allowing regional
economic growth and well-being of local populations.
…
10 are evaluated by scoring from 0 to 4 in order
to show the importance of the geosite. Consequently, 20 is the
highest score possible for a geosite (i.e., 4 is the maximum
score given to each criterion x5 number of noted criteria).
In addition to this descriptive sheet, the database includes
satellite images, geological and topographic maps, photo
gallery of the site, and as exhaustive bibliography as possible
(list of publications and scienti
Criteria 6
-
Acknowledgments
GeoAl is a part of PhD thesis in progress of
H. Kaabeche (UFAS, University of Paris VI, USTHB) and funded by
USTHB. This work is a contribution to the project CNEPRU (Alg
é
rie),
G 00220100057 :
G
é
ologie, Bases de donn
é
es et Nouvelles Tech-
≪
nologies de la Communication et de l
'
Information
, and PNR
≫
(Alg
é
rie)
G
é
ologie et Mod
é
lisation par Acquisition, Traitement et
≪
Analyse de donn
. Constructive reviews by Khadidja Ouzegane
and anonymous referees improved the manuscript considerably, and we
would like to acknowledge these reviewers. Bahia Baaziz is thanked for
help with the English. We also thank Massinissa Amara, Arezki
Amirouche and Boualem Brahmi for providing us pictures of some of
the sites described in this paper.
é
es
≫
c books).
Later, the desktop application will be able to be used
directly from the web with the same graphic user interface,
so that the users can make all the operations from the web
mode in the same way they know in the desktop mode. This
technology will host the application on the web, and offers
the users the possibility for use from their web-browser
when requested. In this case, the speed and reactivity of the
execution depends on the Internet speed
5
Appendix 1
The algorithm projection used by the GeoAl program com-
bines between the screen pixels and the map
'
s pixels used for
fl
ow.
'
the projection. In fact, it
s a mathematical function coded to
run in real time in a way to convert a screen pixel into a
geographic coordinates according to the dimensions of the
used map, and vice versa. The user adds information on the
geological attributes of the sites, its administrative and legal
attributes, and so on.
The actual version of software (GeoAl v1.0 beta, down-
loadable at
http://www.geolalg.com/setup.exe
4
Conclusions
Algeria contains unique geological and geomorphological
sites that merit being known and protected. They could also
be a real vector of local and national development. The list
of geosites included in this paper is not exhaustive; they
account for only a small proportion of geological and geo-
morphological treasures of the country.
It has been clear for some time that the Algerian gov-
ernment have realized the importance of preserving sites as
national natural heritage (Bouzidi and Rabhi
2011
). How-
ever, these sites can also be an economic stimulus with the
development of geotourism that will promote local products
and create sustainable small businesses. In our view, the
establishment of Geoparks is one of the most appropriate
tools in order to achieve these objectives. The involvement
of local people in such projects will help to preserve Alge-
rian geoheritage and enhance socio-economic development
in remote areas.
—
without the
databases) is constituted of an executable
le running under
Windows. The application is ready to use as a 1 Mb auto-
installable desktop program. The minimal recommended
con
guration to guarantee a good running is a Windows XP
edition or later, under an Intel Pentium 4 with a 128 Mb free
memory and 50 Mb of free disk space.
References
A
ï
t-Hamou F, Dautria JM, Cantagrel JM, Dostal J, Briqueu L (2000)
Nouvelles donn
é
es g
é
ochronologiques et isotopiques sur le volcan-
isme c
é
nozo
ï
que de l
'
Ahaggar (Sahara alg
é
rien): des arguments en
faveur d
'
un panache. Comptes Rendus Acad
é
mie Sciences Paris
330:829
-
836
