Geological values of the Ueumdo geosite in the Hwaseong Geopark, Korea and its application to geo-education

Abstract

The Hwaseong Geopark, the candidate for Korean National Geopark, is located in the SW Seoul metropolitan area and composed of 8 geosites and 2 preliminary geosites. In this study, we detailed the geological heritages distributed in the Ueumdo geosite, one of the representative geosites of the Hwaseong Geopark, and discussed their geological values and applications for geo-educational contents. The geology of the geosite consists of the Precambrian metamorphic rocks, Jurassic granites and enclaves, pegmatite, aplite, mafic dikes and so on, indicating high geodiversity. Also, various geological structures, such as folds, faults, joints, dikes, and veins are observed. The geosite has a geotrail consisting of 12 points covering the geomorphology, landscape, and ecology, with these geological heritages. Each heritages have its own excellent geological values, and their geo-educational potentials are highly assessed. For example, various types of fold structures can be observed in the Ueumdo geosite, and their occurrence and characteristics are also very typical. Therefore, they are highly likely to be used as a high-quality geo-educational contents to understand the formation mechanism and classification of fold structures. In the Jurassic granite geological heritage, a variety of enclaves can be observed along with various types of granites, which are highly valuable as educational contents for understanding magma emplacement and differentiation. In addition, the residual sea stacks, wetland, and mudflats show the history of the Sihwa Lake reclamation, environmental pollution and restoration. Thus, they are considered to be the suitable educational sites for history and environmental ecology education. Moreover, many geological heritages are introduced in middle and high school science textbooks, and various field-trip and education programs are developed. If there are improvements in educational materials including information boards and leaflets, high-level commentators, accessibility improvements using alternative transportation, and the utilization plans using infrastructures, the Ueumdo geosite is expected to play a role as a representative geo-educational site in the metropolitan area.