Geoheritage Potential of Miliolite Formation of the Southern Saurashtra (western India), Gujarat

Geoheritage studies have become increasingly important for natural resource management, land use management, research, education and tourism of any region. Exploring the geoheritage has gained momentum in the tourism industry, which is the backbone of economies of several countries/regions. The objective of the study is centred around the identification of the ‘geoheritage’ site and ‘geomorphosite’, which illustrate the scientific value, educational value, cultural value, aesthetic value and intrinsic value needed for preservation and geotourism potential. The Saurashtra (along with Kachchh) region of Gujarat, India, is bestowed with a unique sedimentary formation — the Miliolite Formation that exhibits the land-sea interaction in the form of cliffs, marine terraces, wave-cut platforms and marine notches. This bioclastic carbonate deposit of Saurashtra in particular is repository of the geological processes that operate in the region, during the Middle to Late Pleistocene. These bioclastic carbonate deposits have been studied to reconstruct the paleogeography of the Saurashtra coastline in terms of marine, aeolian and reworked fluvial origins. This work highlights their significance as a geoheritage site and a geomorphosite to study various climate-sea level-tectonic interactions and their importance in promoting geotourism in the region. The assessment of the geotourism potential of these sites reveals a higher geotourism potential for miliolite formation in the southern Saurashtra.