Assessment of impacts on geodiversity and geoheritage on the north coast of state of São Paulo

• Grant number: 22/13514-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): April 01, 2023
• Effective date (End): June 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Geosciences - Geology
• Principal Investigator: Maria da Glória Motta Garcia
• Grantee: Laura Pereira Balaguer
• Host Institution: Instituto de Geociências (IGC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The north coast of the state of São Paulo is composed by São Sebastião, Ilhabela, Caraguatatuba, and Ubatuba municipalities. The rich geodiversity represents geological events of amalgamation and breakup of Gondwana Supercontinent, opening of the South Atlantic Ocean, the formation of Serra do Mar Mountain range, and sea level variations. The region has an expressive state and municipality protected areas mosaic, which geodiversity and biodiversity have been threatened by urbanization and industrialization. The negligence by nature conservation strategies, that don't enjoy the potentialities of geodiversity, express the urgency to assess geodiversity and geoheritage in an integrated approach. The objectives of the project are two focus: (i) integrated assessment of geodiversity, considering the anthropic threats faced by ecosystem services provided by geodiversity and (ii) identification of geoindicators to monitor the state of conservation of geosites. The methodological procedures are based on the following steps: (i) to elaborate the geoenvironmental map, (ii) definition of Essential Geodiversity Variables (EGVs), (iii) identification of ecosystem services provided by geodiversity and their assessment of anthropic threats, (iv) preliminary recognize of geoindicators following the defined physical characteristics, and (v) to establish geoindicators that will be used to assess the conservation states of geosites selected. It is hoped that the obtained results will contribute to public policies in coastal and protected areas to advance the discussion about monitoring in geoconservation, which are few in national level.