Exo- and Endokarst of the Middle Atlas (Morocco): From Inventory to Promotion

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Geoheritage of the Middle Atlas (Morocco)

Part of the book series: Geoheritage, Geoparks and Geotourism ((GGAG))

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Abstract

The Middle Atlas presents exo- and endokarstic characteristics of national and even continental rarity by providing valuable information on a multitude of elements forming the karst heritage of the region. Today, awareness of this karstic heritage is a ray of hope for its preservation. The latter announces an interest between the heritage value of the karst and its promotion. This work reports a study of inventory, quantitative assessment and degree of deterioration of karstic geosites for the purpose of a promotion proposal. During the inventory, 136 karstic geosites were inventoried, 32 of which were selected for the quantitative assessment stage with a score of Ss ≥ 1.5 and the remaining 104 were withdrawn from the selection given their low scientific value. For the stage of the degree of deterioration, these 32 geosites all had a score of Sd < 2.5, and no geosite had an Sd ≥ 2.5. As for the results of the calculation of their total value, this was positive for 23 geosites, the remaining 9 therefore have an Sv < 0. Among this multitude of exo- and endokarstic geosites, eight are selected for a more detailed study based on criteria tangible values of representativeness, rarity, geological diversity and state of preservation.

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Baadi, K., Lebreton, B. (2023). Exo- and Endokarst of the Middle Atlas (Morocco): From Inventory to Promotion. In: Baadi, K. (eds) Geoheritage of the Middle Atlas (Morocco). Geoheritage, Geoparks and Geotourism. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-27073-4_10

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