Conjugation of Geosites with Water Bodies (on the Example of the Belaya River Basin, the Western Caucasus)

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to determinate of the importance of water bodies for in-situ objects of geological heritage (geosites) in a particular territory and testing a new approach for its evaluation. Materials and methods. The work is based on the results of fi eld studies of geosites and conjugated water bodies in the Belaya River basin in the Western Caucasus. The proposed approach is based on a parameter-score evaluation. Results and discussion. Twenty geosites of the study area are conjugated with water bodies (rivers and streams, waterfalls, lakes and artifi cial lakes, glaciers and snowfi elds). The former diff er substantially by the abundance of the latter. It is signifi cant in fi ve geosites and insuffi cient in seven geosites. The concentration of lakes with high aesthetic properties and peculiar accessibility in the Lagonaki Highland increases the signifi cance of this geosite. The results are important to the more comprehensive understanding of geological heritage, as well as for the determination of the geosites importance to usage for the purposes of science, education and tourism. Conclusions. Water bodies increase value of geosites. Their presence permits to establish the related type of geological heritage in geosites and makes them attractive aesthetically. As the research has shown, it is promising to further study the contiguity of geosites with various non-geological objects of the natural environment and their physiographic interpretation in general.