INTEGRATED ANALYSIS OF GEODIVERSITY IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF ACARI-RN, BRAZILIAN SEMIARID REGION

Abstract

Commonly geodiversity is associated with geological knowledge, leaving aside others abioticcomponents such as geomorphological, pedological and hydrological. Geodiversity, compared tobiodiversity, does not yet have the same prestige and political position. In the Brazilian semiaridregion, there are still many gaps related to the knowledge of geodiversity. In 2022, the SeridóGlobal Geopark was recognized by UNESCO as a territory that provides an intriguing insight intothe Earth’s history through its unique natural landscape, cultural and culinary history. Among themunicipalities inserted in the territory of the Seridó Geopark is Acari-RN, which has richgeodiversity. The objective of this work was to present an integrated analysis of the geodiversityof the municipality of Acarí-RN, encompassing information related to variety of geological,geomorphological, pedological and hydrological features and processes. Fieldwork was carriedout, we identified and mapped landforms and their physiognomic aspects and georeferenced usingportable GPS. We collected soils to represent the different landforms. A ten geosites werecharacterized in the municipality, four of them belonging to the Seridó Geopark, in which we alsosought to consider the information about the relief and soils. In the present work, the term"integrated analysis of geodiversity" was used in order to encourage debate and to make it clearthat geodiversity is not limited to geological aspects. The integrated analysis of geodiversity canbe a subsidy for geotourism, regional valorization of the semiarid and also preservation of theCaatinga biome. The identification and characterization of potential geosites in Acarí-RN canhelp for developing efficient municipal policy to combining the conservation of their uniquegeological heritage with public outreach and sustainable development