Geoheritage

EGDI Geoheritage

Earth’s geological processes are happening around us all the time. Rivers cut their way down into their valleys, shed their sediment where they empty into the sea, forming deltas, and mountains rise imperceptibly as continental plates grind against each other. These processes shape the ground we stand on and the landscapes we see around us. The results are often distinctive geological sites (geosites) that can be unique, visually appealing, or scientifically valuable. They are centres for geotourism, geological education and scientific research. Over the past decade, increased public awareness of geosites has demonstrated their importance to society and revealed geoconservation knowledge gaps that must be filled. We need to document the geosites we have, their vulnerabilities and how we can sustainably manage them.

In EGS, this topic is addressed by the Geoheritage Expert Group.

Geoheritage and geosites across Europe

Earth’s geological processes shape the landscapes we see around us and create distinctive geological sites (geosites) that can be unique, visually appealing or scientifically valuable. Geoheritage supports geoscience education, research, outreach and sustainable management of geodiversity.

What EGDI supports in Geoheritage

Use this theme to discover resources that help document and communicate geoheritage, including supporting documents and structured metadata that make information easier to find, interpret and reuse across organisations.

Typical use cases

  • Education and outreach: find authoritative background material for teaching and public communication.
  • Documentation and inventory workflows: use consistent descriptions and metadata to support comparability.
  • Sustainable management: connect geoheritage context to basic geology and geohazards when relevant.

Recommended workflow (3 steps)

  1. Use the Document Repository to find reports and educational resources by metadata and full-text search.
  2. Review structured descriptions in the Geological Metadata Catalogue where relevant.
  3. Explore context layers in the Geological Map Viewer of Europe and connect to related themes for broader interpretation.

Related EGDI resources

 

Other Scientific Themes

Mountain and its reflection in a lake at its feet.

Basic Geology

Multiscale space-related datasets and data products are the fundamental components of geological baseline information delivered by national geological survey organisations. These datasets and products show and explain the geological architecture of the surface and subsurface of the Earth’s crust.
Heavy machinery carrying out a survey.

Boreholes

EGDI contains data on different sets of boreholes. Currently a WMS services is available.
Road asphalt torn by ground movements.

Earth Observations and Geohazards

The systematic observation of the Earth’s surface and the monitoring of ground deformation allows the precise mapping and assessment of geohazards. Geohazards can have severe impacts on human lives and properties and may lead to serious socio-economic consequences.
Image of a person's hand harvesting spinach in a garden.

Geochemistry

Chemical elements are the Earth’s building blocks. Geochemistry is the study of the distribution and concentration of Earth’s elements.
Volcanic area that houses a hot spring lake that is being photographed by several people.

GeoEnergy

Energy is vital to the functioning of our society. We need energy to heat our homes, to produce food, for transport, and much more. But energy consumption poses two major challenges. First, our huge dependency on fossil fuels. Second, domestic energy production is decreasing.
Computer-generated background of reddish colors that simulates sea waves.

GeoERA

Establishing the European Geological Surveys Research Area to deliver a Geological Service for Europe (GeoERA).
Spectacular landscape view from helicopter cabin.

Geophysics

Geophysics studies the Earth's interior using physical properties measured at or above its surface and produces mathematical models to predict those properties.
Rocky seabed illuminated by sunlight.

Marine Geology

About two-thirds of the Earth’s surface is covered by water. In line with this, Europe’s seas total about fifteen million square kilometres, fifty percent more than its land area.
Spectacular fragment of multicolored mineral with lumpy shapes inside.

Mineral Resources

We live in a mineral-based world. It has been said that “if you can’t grow it, you have to mine it”. Indeed, virtually everything we use on a daily basis is manufactured from the Earth’s mineral resources. Mineral raw materials provide us with our basic needs – energy, infrastructure, transportation, technology and more.
Risky deep foundation work near a historic building in a city.

Urban Geology

Geological and geotechnical information about the subsurface of cities are of paramount importance and of high socio-economic value for their development and the maintenance of critical infrastructure.
Water pipe

Water Resources

Groundwater, present almost every where beneath our feet, is by far (99%) the largest freshwater resource on earth. As rain falls, it recharge and continuously feeds, rivers, lakes, wetlands and coastal waters.