Assessment of the value and development of geological heritages in Gangwon Province, Korea

초록

The discovery and evaluation process of geological heritage has been carried out over the past six years (2014-2019) focusing on the inland of South Korea, and Gangwon Province was studied as the last inland region. Based on several discussions on the evaluation of geological heritage, the evaluation table, which has been used annually, was essentially established starting with Jeolla Province. This table was also applied to the Gangwon Province, wherein geological heritage sites were excavated and evaluated in a similar way as in other regions. The evaluation process followed the order of literature survey, field survey, evaluation table preparation, geological heritage rating, and D.B. construction. Furthermore, Gangwon Province currently operates Gangwon Peace National Geopark, Gangwon Paleozoic National Geopark, and Hantangang River Geopark (Cheorwon-gun) and has a total of 43 natural monuments and scenic spots with respect to geology and topography, accounting for the most number of heritage sites designated and managed in the country. A total of 173 geological heritage sites were surveyed in this study. By type, there were 75 geological heritage sites (43.4%), 50 topographical heritage sites (28.0%), and 48 mixed heritage sites (geological + topographical) (27.7%), which were excavated. Based on the grade, 9, 63, 54, 36, and 11 sites corresponded to class I, class II, class III, class IV, and V, respectively. Comparing to other grades, a trend of continuous increase was observed in Grade II. In addition, the overall grading of the discovered geological heritage sites showed a pattern similar to that of other regions, suggesting that the evaluation results of the geological heritage sites are becoming objectified. Based on the excavation results of the Gangwon region geological heritage sites, Goseong-Sokcho Geopark, which is a part of Gangwon Peace National Geopark, and Gangneung-Donghae Geopark are recommended as new geopark candidate sites. As ten local governments are currently operating the geoparks in Gangwon region, more careful planning is necessary. Finally, it is inferred that the excavated geological heritage sites need systematic management according to its grade, which requires extensive planning and efforts.

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