Assessment of the geoheritage of the municipality of Carnaúba dos Dantas, NE Brazil, with a view to its geotourism development

Abstract

The assessment of geosites is a relatively recent topic in geosciences, but several methods have been proposed to assess geodiversity with qualitative and quantitative objectives, either broadly, considering scientific, economic, aesthetic, and tourist values, or narrowly, considering scientific value as central. However, in this study, we propose something more specific, directing our analysis toward identifying and evaluating the geopatrimony potential of the municipality of Carnaúba dos Dantas, located in the micro-region of Seridó Oriental, in the state of Rio Grande do Norte. To achieve the expected results, the quantitative evaluation form method developed by Diniz, Araújo, and Chagas (2022) was adopted, which takes into account scientific, tourist, and/or aesthetic values. Using this method, seven sites of geological interest were evaluated, six of which stood out as geosites in terms of scientific and aesthetic values.