Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
wetlands in response to progradation and water table rise, the
evolution of wetlands geomorphologically and stratigraphi-
cally, the imprint of climate, hydrochemistry and hydrology
on the wetland sediments stratigraphically and biostrati-
graphically, the diagenesis of the wetland and the diagenetic
relation between the wetland and adjoining parent sedi-
ments. Many of these features are globally unique, and
hence globally signi
Earth processes and history. Of course, different areas
around the World will have different components of
important small scale features. For instance, a geopark at
Jack Hills in Australia clearly would emphasise the
Archaean sand-sized zircons and their regional geology and
context, a Geopark sited on the Bitter Springs Formation in
Australia would emphasise the Precambrian microfossils
also in their larger scale geological context, and a Geopark
site at Moine in Scotland would emphasise the signi
cant. At the macro-scale, as an
ensemble, these features form an integrated system of geo-
logical process-and-products that also can function as indi-
vidual components of interest in a geopark. The geological
features can also be used as an outdoor classroom for Sci-
ence and Education endeavours for students and scientists,
as well as for geotours.
However, we have ventured further with the geological
importance of the Becher Point Cuspate Forelands and its
wetlands using only macroscale features. In this paper, we
have endeavoured to show that the importance and diversity
of the Earth heritage elements of Becher Point extends to the
microscale, with small scale stratigraphy, sponges, and
pollen, charophyte gyrogonites as indicators of environ-
mental and climate change, past hydrological processes, and
the evolution of vegetation complexes, in an evolving
landscape. Thus we highlight the importance of that which
lies hidden from the naked eye as an important component
for both Science and Education in Earth heritage.
We proffer that the same approach can be applied else-
where, i.e., areas that are inscribed for biological reasons,
such as Ramsar sites or National Parks, in Northern Africa
and elsewhere, can be documented in terms of both their
macroscale as well as microscale geological features to add
to the inventory of why an area is signi
cance
of the snowball garnets (Brocx and Semeniuk
2007
).
We recommend that Educational information provided in
interpretative panels,
information centres, geotrails, and
scienti
c information in brochures in Geoparks and Geo-
trails add the small scale geological features for that site as it
complements the larger-scale features of a Geopark and raise
the consciousness of scientist, interested naturalists, and the
public to features to the importance of the world evident at
the microscale.
References
Baldwin MF, Furguson D, Staterson KA, Wallen IE (1988) The
biological resources of the Arab Republic of Egypt: status and
recommended conservation needs (
rst draft), prepared for the U.S.
Agency for International Development Of
ce of Science and
Technology, Cairo, Egypt
Brocx M (2008) Geoheritage
—
from global perspectives to local
principles for conservation and planning. Western Australian
Museum, Perth, p 175
Brocx M, Semeniuk V (2007) Geoheritage and geoconservation
—
history, denition, scope and scale. J R Soc W Aust 90:53
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87
Brocx M, Semeniuk V (2010) The geoheritage signicance of crystals.
Geol Today 26:216
cant in terms of its
225
Magin C (2001) Important bird areas in Africa and associated Islands:
priority sites for conservation. In: Fishpool LDC, Evans MI (eds)
Birdlife conservation series 11. Pisces Publications and BirdLife
International, Newbury and Cambridge, UK (Morocco)
Ramsar Sites Database (2012)
http://ramsar.wetlands.org/Database/
Semeniuk CA (2007) The Becher Wetlands
-
geoheritage.
In this paper, we have endeavoured to provide a model
for Science and Education using an existing Ramsar site and
proposed Geopark. We contend that, in addition to the fea-
tures of large geological scale, land managers and conser-
vation park managers by documenting the microscale can
signi
A Ramsar site. Evolution
of wetland habitats and vegetation associations on a Holocene
coastal plain, South-Western Australia. Springer, The Netherlands,
p 680
Semeniuk CA, Milne LA, Ladd P, Semeniuk V (2006a) Pollen in the
surface sediments of wetlands in the Becher Point area, South-
Western Australia: a baseline for use in interpreting Holocene
sequences. J R Soc W Aust 89:27
—
cantly add to the importance of an area. This will
particularly be the case if the objects at the microscale are
Nationally or Internationally signi
cant. However, even if
the microscale geological features are only of local or
Regional signi
cance, they can add to the Educational
information provided in the interpretative panels, informa-
tion centres, geotrails, and scienti
43
Semeniuk CA, Milne LA, Semeniuk V, Ladd P (2006b) Holocene
palynology of
ve wetland basins in the Becher Point area, South-
Western Australia. J R Soc W Aust 89:129
-
c information in bro-
chures as they provide the scientist, interested naturalists,
and the public with knowledge integrated from the large
scale to the small scale, the latter not evident to the unaided
eye, to highlight the range of scales at which geology
operates, that the scales at which it operates is integrated
(inter-related), and that features of large scale and small scale
both are complementary and useful in the reconstruction of
154
Semeniuk V (1986) Holocene climate history of coastal SW Australia
using calcrete as an indicator. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeo-
ecol 53:289
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308
Semeniuk V (1995) The Holocene record of climatic, eustatic and
tectonic events along the coastal zone of Western Australia
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a
review. Chapter 21. In: Finkl CW (ed) Holocene cycles: climate,
sealevel
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rise, and sedimentation. J Coast Res Spec Issue 17:
247
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