**3. Application of geoheritage and geoconservation principles.**

Unlike significant single geological features, such as the Siccar Point unconformity in Scotland [41] or the K/T contact at Gubbio in Italy [42], volcanoes commonly present a multitude of interrelated geological features from the large scale to the small scale each of which frequently carry geoheritage significance. Given this wide range of volcanic features on Earth in terms of their diversity, magma type, the interactions with pre-existing rocks, magma, and water, and scale of features, volcanoes and their multitude of products, in practice, present complex systems to classify and assess as sites of geoheritage significance. Leaving aside the older volcanic deposits, the modern and sub-recent examples on their own are diverse and significant enough and provide important stories about the Earth and important insights into the functioning and geochemistry of the Earth crust. For instance, at a global level, geochemically, volcanoes illustrate the chemical variability of the Earth's crust latitudinally, longitudinally, as well as in terms of geological settings (*viz*., in broad terms, oceanic *versus* continental). At smaller scales, volcanoes and their products, in interacting with rocks, water, and atmosphere, provide a wealth of geological features that are great stories of the Earth and hence of great heritage (geoheritage) significance. In this context, the geoheritage significance of volcano types, volcanic deposits, volcanic landscapes, and secondary volcanic landscapes (such as landslides and rockfalls) was recently addressed in the Journal *Geoheritage* [43–47] and in [48].

The best way to comparatively assess and deal with the geoheritage significance of volcanoes and volcanic products is to address their diversity (often *incomparable* from site to site) and commence with an approach of geological setting, magma types, and scale. This is because volcanoes, volcanic activity, and volcanic products, though branded together under the 'umbrella' term of volcanoes, can be markedly different in the various geological settings, expressed as a diversity of magma types, and will express various and different geological phenomena at various scales from these perspectives, volcanoes in these different environments are not comparable. There are proposed four spatial scales with which to systematically deal with volcanoes and their products (**Table 2**).


Vesicles; stretched vesicles; lapilli; accretionary lapilli; crystal fill of vesicles; crystal fill of fractures; deuteric precipitates; stalactitic and stalagmitic deposits in lava tube; bombs and their deformation (dropstone) structures in tephra; fissures and crystal or lava filled fissures; lithoclasts/xenoliths; xenocryst; shards

**341**

*Volcanoes: Identifying and Evaluating Their Significant Geoheritage Features from the Large…*

Given the scope of volcanic geology, the list above, axiomatically, is not exhaustive, but provides an insight on how to assess and evaluate the geoheritage significance of volcanoes. Outside of the spatial scale (or size) that volcanic features can occur, there is also a significance or evaluation that can be attributed to them, as

For geoconservation, once a site, area, or region is assessed as being of geoheritage significance, then measures should be undertaken to protect the more significant sites, and/or utilitise them for conservation in perpetuity, or for research, education, and geotours in a managed manner. Sites, areas, or regions can be allocated/inscribed for geoconservation as World Heritage Sites, National Parks, geological conservation reserves, type localities for rocks and minerals, reference sites or reference localities for volcanic features, a geological monument, a geopark, or a geotrail (as described and discussed by Brocx & Semeniuk [49, 50]). Where there is an ensemble of volcanic features illustrating the story of volcanoes on the Earth, the suite of features would be ideally integrated into a thematic geopark, such as at Jeju Volcanic Island, Yellowstone National Park, and Hawaii (Hawai'i)

The large-scale sub-global array of volcanoes forming island arcs in the Malay Archipelago and that in the Aleutian Islands, being unusual and/or unique in the World, would be viewed as globally significant World Heritage Sites [51, 52]. The smaller-scale presentation of tephra deposits, their complex stratigraphy, and bombs such as that cropping out at Jeju Island would be (and is) a smaller-scale World Heritage Site [32]. So too, the island chain system located on a hot mantle plume at Hawaii (Hawai'i) would be a World Heritage Site [53]. Other volcanic centres that exhibit unusual or extraordinary features such as the carbonatite eruption at Ol Doinyo Lengai in Kenya [54, 55], and the rhyolites, tuffs, and some basalts in the Yellowstone Caldera [56, 57] also would be World Heritage Sites. Many of these volcanic sites are already allocated to globally-significant conservation reserves but the point of this text is to highlight that they have features ranging from sub-global scale to smaller scales that qualify them as being of geoheritage significance in contrast to many other volcanic sites that have a different (but also significant) set of attributes that have yet to be rigorously allocated to

In, as a result of the complex interplay between magma in the Earth's interior, its ascent through the crust, and its eruption at the surface, there is a rich geological variability in volcanoes in terms of conclusion geometry, structure, stratigraphy, lithologies, volcano-to-country-rock relationships, contact metamorphism, and near-surface alteration often specific and relevant to a particular geological region or province. Across the globe, this results in a geological natural-history resource and geological museum of geoheritage significance that is useful for research, education and geotours, and provides a window into near-surface Earth processes, deep-Earth processes, the history of the Earth and, given crustal heterogeneity, development of specific suites of volcanic features restricted to

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.97928*

1.Internationally significant.

3.State-wide to regionally significant.

2.Nationally significant.

4.Locally significant.

National Park.

geoheritage significance.

particular tectonic settings.

follows (**Figure 3**):

**Table 2.**

*Examples of large to small scale volcanic features occurring at the four spatial scales.*

### *Volcanoes: Identifying and Evaluating Their Significant Geoheritage Features from the Large… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.97928*

Given the scope of volcanic geology, the list above, axiomatically, is not exhaustive, but provides an insight on how to assess and evaluate the geoheritage significance of volcanoes. Outside of the spatial scale (or size) that volcanic features can occur, there is also a significance or evaluation that can be attributed to them, as follows (**Figure 3**):


*Updates in Volcanology – Transdisciplinary Nature of Volcano Science*

**3. Application of geoheritage and geoconservation principles.**

Unlike significant single geological features, such as the Siccar Point unconformity in Scotland [41] or the K/T contact at Gubbio in Italy [42], volcanoes commonly present a multitude of interrelated geological features from the large scale to the small scale each of which frequently carry geoheritage significance. Given this wide range of volcanic features on Earth in terms of their diversity, magma type, the interactions with pre-existing rocks, magma, and water, and scale of features, volcanoes and their multitude of products, in practice, present complex systems to classify and assess as sites of geoheritage significance. Leaving aside the older volcanic deposits, the modern and sub-recent examples on their own are diverse and significant enough and provide important stories about the Earth and important insights into the functioning and geochemistry of the Earth crust. For instance, at a global level, geochemically, volcanoes illustrate the chemical variability of the Earth's crust latitudinally, longitudinally, as well as in terms of geological settings (*viz*., in broad terms, oceanic *versus* continental). At smaller scales, volcanoes and their products, in interacting with rocks, water, and atmosphere, provide a wealth of geological features that are great stories of the Earth and hence of great heritage (geoheritage) significance. In this context, the geoheritage significance of volcano types, volcanic deposits, volcanic landscapes, and secondary volcanic landscapes (such as landslides and rockfalls) was recently addressed in the Journal *Geoheritage*

The best way to comparatively assess and deal with the geoheritage significance of volcanoes and volcanic products is to address their diversity (often *incomparable* from site to site) and commence with an approach of geological setting, magma types, and scale. This is because volcanoes, volcanic activity, and volcanic products, though branded together under the 'umbrella' term of volcanoes, can be markedly different in the various geological settings, expressed as a diversity of magma types, and will express various and different geological phenomena at various scales from these perspectives, volcanoes in these different environments are not comparable. There are proposed four spatial scales with which to systematically deal with

*Geological setting:* oceanic crust; sites of mantle plumes; island arcs; continental margin volcanoes; intra-

Types of volcanoes geomorphologically; types of volcanoes behaviourally; chains of volcanoes; fissures; lava

Vesicles; stretched vesicles; lapilli; accretionary lapilli; crystal fill of vesicles; crystal fill of fractures; deuteric precipitates; stalactitic and stalagmitic deposits in lava tube; bombs and their deformation (dropstone) structures in tephra; fissures and crystal or lava filled fissures; lithoclasts/xenoliths; xenocryst; shards

Massive lava; layered/laminated lava; brecciated lava; bombs; pillow lava; disconformities; complex stratigraphy; types of tephra; layering in tephra; structures in surge deposits; lava tube; diatremes and their

**340**

**Table 2.**

[43–47] and in [48].

volcanoes and their products (**Table 2**).

**Examples of regional scale volcanic features**

**Examples of local scale volcanic features**

**Examples of small scale volcanic features**

continental plate volcanoes

tubes

**Examples of global to sub-global scale volcanic features**

complex stratigraphy; dykes; geothermal springs; sinters

*Examples of large to small scale volcanic features occurring at the four spatial scales.*

*Magma type(s):* basaltic suite; andesitic suite; acidic volcanic suite


For geoconservation, once a site, area, or region is assessed as being of geoheritage significance, then measures should be undertaken to protect the more significant sites, and/or utilitise them for conservation in perpetuity, or for research, education, and geotours in a managed manner. Sites, areas, or regions can be allocated/inscribed for geoconservation as World Heritage Sites, National Parks, geological conservation reserves, type localities for rocks and minerals, reference sites or reference localities for volcanic features, a geological monument, a geopark, or a geotrail (as described and discussed by Brocx & Semeniuk [49, 50]). Where there is an ensemble of volcanic features illustrating the story of volcanoes on the Earth, the suite of features would be ideally integrated into a thematic geopark, such as at Jeju Volcanic Island, Yellowstone National Park, and Hawaii (Hawai'i) National Park.

The large-scale sub-global array of volcanoes forming island arcs in the Malay Archipelago and that in the Aleutian Islands, being unusual and/or unique in the World, would be viewed as globally significant World Heritage Sites [51, 52]. The smaller-scale presentation of tephra deposits, their complex stratigraphy, and bombs such as that cropping out at Jeju Island would be (and is) a smaller-scale World Heritage Site [32]. So too, the island chain system located on a hot mantle plume at Hawaii (Hawai'i) would be a World Heritage Site [53]. Other volcanic centres that exhibit unusual or extraordinary features such as the carbonatite eruption at Ol Doinyo Lengai in Kenya [54, 55], and the rhyolites, tuffs, and some basalts in the Yellowstone Caldera [56, 57] also would be World Heritage Sites. Many of these volcanic sites are already allocated to globally-significant conservation reserves but the point of this text is to highlight that they have features ranging from sub-global scale to smaller scales that qualify them as being of geoheritage significance in contrast to many other volcanic sites that have a different (but also significant) set of attributes that have yet to be rigorously allocated to geoheritage significance.

In, as a result of the complex interplay between magma in the Earth's interior, its ascent through the crust, and its eruption at the surface, there is a rich geological variability in volcanoes in terms of conclusion geometry, structure, stratigraphy, lithologies, volcano-to-country-rock relationships, contact metamorphism, and near-surface alteration often specific and relevant to a particular geological region or province. Across the globe, this results in a geological natural-history resource and geological museum of geoheritage significance that is useful for research, education and geotours, and provides a window into near-surface Earth processes, deep-Earth processes, the history of the Earth and, given crustal heterogeneity, development of specific suites of volcanic features restricted to particular tectonic settings.
