Mgmgarcia Paper

8/3/2019 Mgmgarcia Paper

1/4

________________________________________________________

1(2)

Geotourism potential in the North Coast of So Paulo State, Brazil:Aspects of Geoconservation, Preservation of Traditional Culture

and Income Generation

[email protected] (University of So Paulo, Departament of Mineralogy and Geotectonics)

E.A.DEL [email protected] (University of So Paulo, Departament of Mineralogy and Geotectonics)[email protected] (University of So Paulo, Departament of Mineralogy and Geotectonics)

[email protected] (University of So Paulo, School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities)

ABSTRACT: Although Brazil has an internationally recognized tourism potential, especially regarding

the natural heritage, unlike other countries, little information is directed to relief aspects and types ofrocks that make up the physical environments and the evolution of the landscape, as well as the

knowledge of the environment as a whole. Since the International Year of Planet Earth (2007-2009),

increasing attention is being given to issues related to Environment and Protected Areas, but Brazil is far

behind other countries when it comes to the preservation and dissemination of natural landscapes

(dissemination of knowledge about natural landscapes and their preservation). This proposal refers to

the development of Geotourism activities along the Northern part of the coast in the So Paulo State. The

region was chosen due to its astonishing beauty, increasing tourism potential and important geological

register related to the South Atlantic opening. Four towns, which constitute important tourism

destinations, are located along the coast in this section: Ubatuba, Caraguatatuba, So Sebastio, and

Ilhabela. Also, many Conservation Units (State Parks) exist along all this part of the coast, all of them

related to the Atlantic Forest and to the Serra do Mar Mountain Range. Our proposal includes basic

geological research in order to evaluate the possibility that some of the rock formations and othergeodynamic features may be characterized as Geosites, theoretical and practical courses of both basic

and regional geological knowledge, Geoconservation, and legal aspects of environmental

protection/natural heritage for Ecotourism Guides and Science Teachers, Geotourism Map Guides to be

available in Tourism Centers and informative panels of relevant geological aspects to be settled at

adequate sites, and support to the integration of coastal population and/or generation of employment and

incomes by this Geotourism activity.

KEYWORDS: Brazil, Geoconservation, Geoheritage, Geotourism.

1. INTRODUCTION

Brazil has an internationally recognized tourism potential, especially regarding the natural

heritage, which enables various segments of tourism, including ecotourism, adventure tourism,

and educational-environment tourism. However, unlike other countries, little information is

directed to relief aspects and types of rocks that make up the physical environments and the

evolution of the landscape. Accordingly, a new segment of tourism, focused on the

identification, preservation, and diffusion of non biological natural heritage, has been developed

- Geotourism, a term proposed by Hose (1995) to conceptualize the type of tourism that takes as

attractive many geological features, such as rock formations and structures. Added to these

attractions is the knowledge of the environment as a whole, including aspects of flora and fauna

and of Environmental Education, as well as aspects related to inclusion of local communities in

the preservation of this heritage, which concerns directly to their social and economicdevelopment.


2/4

2(2)

Based on the above, the aim of this paper is to evaluate the Geotourism potential of the

geologic features of the North Coast of So Paulo State, Brazil (Fig. 1), whose natural beauties

have long been recognized as important tourism attractions and year by year, an increasing

number of tourists come to the place to enjoy them. In this region, the interest of the generalpopulation includes the beaches, the rocky slopes and the Atlantic Ocean but, although many of

these attractions are related to geological features, no information about these is given. In many

places, although some outcrops in the coast and in the trails are well known both for its beauty or

its original shape; little is disclosed about their origin, age or processes that led to its formation

as we see today, as well as the threats they face (such as landslide risks). As well as knowledge

of flora and fauna makes people respect them and protect them, it is knowledge of the physical

environment as a whole that will make local communities and visitors to take care of these

landscape elements to lead them to be preserved and always enjoyed. To make this Geodiversity,

as well as its relationship with other systems that compose the natural landscape and with both

cultural and economic components, be recognized, valued, and protected as part of the

environment and as a mean of obtaining resources for local communities is also part of ourobjectives. Additionally, we intend to seek evidence to justify the inclusion of these geological

sites in local Geotourism programs that enable dissemination of geosciences to the public,

besides promoting the interaction of local communities with the development of research.

Figure 1Location map of the area with the main towns of the North Coast of So Paulo, Brazil.

Geologically, the North Coast of So Paulo State is part of the Mantiqueira Province

(Almeida et al., 1977), of Neoproterozoic age, more specifically of the Costeiro Complex (Hasui

et al., 1981) or Terrain. This unit is composed mainly by high-grade metamorphic rocks such as

gneisses and migmatites, as well as variably deformed granitic bodies, basic dykes and alkaline

intrusions. Its evolution is related to the Reactivation Stage of the Brazilian Platform, of

Neojurassic to Recent age (Almeida, 1969), during which a notable tectonic reactivation

occurred, and the tectonic features show great control from the basement. Most of the events are

located near the Brazilian continental margin of the South American Platform, which indicatesdirect relationship with fragmentation of the Gondwana Supercontinent and opening of the South

Atlantic Ocean, as well as the formation of the Serra do Mar Mountain Range and the shape of

the Brazilian coast. This breakup was responsible for intense and variable magmatism


3/4

3(2)

represented as basic and intermediate dykes and sills, taken as coeval to the basalts of the Paran

Basin and to the bottom of Santos Basin, and by stocks and dykes of alkaline rocks (CPRM,

2008; Matosso, 2006).

2. SELECTION AND DISSEMINATION PROPOSALS

The geological evolution of the North Coast of So Paulo State is closely related to the

formation of the Serra do Mar Mountain Range and to the opening of the South Atlantic Ocean.

The tectonic features associated with these events are well known by the local population and the

tourists that visit the place, as these are easily visible and notable. At the town of Caraguatatuba

(Fig. 1), an important hill called Santo Antonio (Fig. 2A) holds a ramp for free flight widely used

by both local and outside sportsmen/women. The hill also holds a 15-meters image in honor to

its Patron Saint that brings thousands of visitors every years to its top, from where one can have

an amazing view of the whole city and also of part of So Sebastio and Ilhabela and the Serra

do Mar Mountain Range. Another example of regional-scale structure is the oriented outcropscharacteristic of the region between So Sebastio and Bertioga (Fig. 2B). In this part of the

coast portions of rock formations are structurally organized as promontories that come out

from the continent and continue in the islands, both following the structural direction in the

basement. These features constitute an important evidence of the role of the basement framework

in the present shape of the coast.

Local-scale outcrops also represent significant registers of the tectonic events that affected the

region, which are materialized as volcanic rocks such as dykes, granitic bodies and

lamprophyres. The Northeast-oriented dyke in the figure 2C is located at the Engenho Beach,

So Sebastio and is one of the main records of the basic magmatism emplaced in tension

fractures associated with the Cretaceous South Atlantic opening. Many ecotourism trails are

located at the Serra do Mar State Park. These have different degrees of difficulty and crosscutboth the Atlantic Forest and coastal rocks. Studies on trail management including environmental

diagnosis are also part of this proposal. An example of ecotourism trails located in the

Picinguaba Nucleous (Fig. 2D) is shown.

3. CONCLUDING REMARKS

The North Coast of So Paulo State, Brazil, is a potentially attractive for Geotourism

activities. Most of the geotourism values are represented by geologic features related to the

tectonic events that gave origin to the breakup of Gondwana, in Cretaceous. The geosites

presented here must be taken as preliminary proposals, which will be greatly improved with

further field and divulgation work, such as diffusion courses to local ecotourism guides andteachers. After identifying key potential areas or sites to display geological information (by

geological, environmental, technical and touristic - such as potential visitors, ease of

maintenance, etc.) panels and leaflets with geological information should be made. Also, support

to the integration of coastal population and / or generation of employment and incomes by the

Geotourism is one of the main expected results, because to make scientific knowledge to be not

restricted to academic institutions, as well as provide better living conditions for local

communities, is one of the main bases of Geotourism.


4/4

4(2)

Figure 2Some proposals of Geological Interest Sites in the North Coast of So Paulo State, Brazil. A)Santo Antonio Hill, Caraguatatuba. Source: http://www.caraguatatuba.sp.gov.br; B) Aspects of the coast

line between So Sebastio and Bertioga, to the south. Note the NE-SW-oriented promontories coherent

with the basement structures.; C) Mafic dyke in the Engenho Beach, So Sebastio; D) Brava da Almada

Beach, part of ecotourism trail in the Serra do Mar State Park, Picinguaba Nucleous.

ReferencesAlmeida F.F.M.de (1969) Diferenciao tectnica da plataforma Brasileira. In: SBG, Congr. Bras. Geol., 23,

Salvador, 1969. Anais..., Salvador, p. 29-46.

Almeida, F.F.M.; Hasui, Y.; Brito Neves, B.B.; Fuck, R.A. (1977) Provncias estruturais brasileiras. In: Simpsio de

Geologia do Nordeste, 8., Campina Grande, Bolim Especial, p.12-13.

Almeida, F.F.M.; Hasui, Y.; Brito Neves, B.B.; Fuck, R.A. (1981) A brazilian structural provinces: na introduction.

Earth-Science Reviews, 17(1/2): 1-29.CPRM (2008). Texto explicativo do Mapa Geolgico do Estado de So Paulo 1:750.000.

Hasui Y., Sadowski G.R. (1976) Evoluo geolgica do Pr-Cambriano na regio sudeste do Estado de So Paulo.

Rev. Bras. De Geoc., 6(3):182-200.

Hose T.A. (1995) Selling the Story of Britains Stone. Environmental Interpretation, 2: 16-17

Matosso, A.Q. (Coord.) (2006) Parque Estadual da Serra do Mar: Plano de ManejoResumo Executivo. So Paulo.

Santos, A. R. (2004)A Grande Barreira da Serra do Mar: da trilha dos Tupiniquins Rodovia dos Imigrantes. SoPaulo.
http://www.caraguatatuba.sp.gov.br/http://www.caraguatatuba.sp.gov.br/

Mgmgarcia Paper

Documents

Transcript of Mgmgarcia Paper