ASSESSMENT OF THE GEOMORPHOLOGICAL HERITAGE OF THE MUNICIPALITIES OF GUAMARÉ AND GALINHOS – RN
Geodiversity, Geomorphological Heritage, Galinhos, Guamaré, Evaluation.
The municipalities of Guamaré and Galinhos, both located in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, stand out nationally with its exuberance and tourist attractions, with emphasis on the municipality of Galinhos, which is one of the tourist destinations of prominence not only nationally but also internationally. The Geodiversity defined here as designation of elements and abiotic processes, is in the spotlight of these municipalities, for giving genesis and form to beautiful landscapes in them. The Geodiversity worked here, was not always a science that was in evidence in the academic environment, because it can be seen that for a certain period the science may have given greater emphasis on the biotic environment, especially when dealing with nature conservation. Thus, in the 1990s theorists began to develop studies seeking to insert the abiotic elements as crucial elements in natural conservation, placing them with the same value as biodiversity. The Geodiversity, after three decades of multiple researches and methods developed, today has become an area of varied study, giving emphasis to its most outstanding elements, called in the literature of Geopatrimony, emphasizing that the investigation will emphasize the geomorphological heritage, scope of the Geopattrimony. Thus, this research aims to evaluate the geomorphological heritage of the municipalities of Guamaré and Galinhos, from the sheets for quantitative and qualitative evaluation of geomorphological heritage developed by Araújo (2021), Diniz, Araújo and Chagas (2021; 2022), based on literature review, field work and finally the realization of a summary map of the geomorphological heritage of the study area. For this, it was then delimited the following sites of geomorphological interest: the Presidio Island, the beaches of Minhoto/Amaro, and the Hake Head, located in the municipality of Guamaré; the beaches of Farol/Galinhos, the André Dunes, the Capim Dunes and the Galinhos eolianite, located in the municipality of Galinhos; the Galinhos-Guamaré Estuarine Complex, which is present in both municipalities now investigated. From the quantitative evaluation these sites were classified as geomorphosites and geodiversity sites: seven of them were classified as geomorphosites and one as a geodiversity site.