GEOMORPHOLOGICAL HERITAGE IN THE MUNICIPALITIES OF SÃO MIGUEL DO GOSTOSO AND TOUROS/RN
Geopatrimony, Geomorphological Heritage and Geomorphosite.
The discussion regarding the future of natural resources has been established over the
years as a propulsive stimulus for the triggering of resource planning and management
analyses within the geosciences. In this research, geodiversity will be understood
through geomorphological elements, structuring the geomorphodiversity, which
directed to the coastal environment, is concretized as a potential of peculiar geoforms,
which lack geoconservation. Therefore, this work aims at inventorying and quantifying
the sites of geomorphological interest in the municipalities of São Miguel do Gostoso
and Touros, in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, investigating also the past analysis of
the landscape. In the present study, four potential geomorphological sites were
identified, through inventory and quantification. In the inventory, in the field, the
general information of the sites was investigated, based on geomorphology,
corroborating a database of the areas in question. In the quantification, the importance
of the relevant areas was valued through four value criteria: Aesthetic (VEst), Scientific
(VCi), Touristic (VTur), and Use and Management (VUG), being them: Morro dos
Martins Beach, Ponta do Reduto Cliff, Calcanhar Lighthouse and Touros Cliff. Through
the results, it is relevant the inclusion of the aesthetic criterion, and not only the
scientific one, for the identification of geomorphosites. We found that there are areas
with high aesthetic value, but with low representativeness of scientific value, due to the
lack of scientific research in the geosciences, this corroborates the view that the
aesthetic potential has representativeness for the society and therefore should be
included in the geoconservation actions.