Olev Vinn, Mark A. Wilson, Mare Isakar, Ursula Toom
{"title":"Two high Value Geoheritage Sites on Sõrve Peninsula (Saaremaa Island, Estonia): A Window to the Unique Late Silurian Fauna","authors":"Olev Vinn, Mark A. Wilson, Mare Isakar, Ursula Toom","doi":"10.1007/s12371-024-00957-7","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>The Upper Silurian exposures on Saaremaa Island, mostly represented by small coastal cliffs, are the best in Estonia. Among these exposures are two coastal cliffs that are in many ways unique. The Pridoli crinoid fauna at Kaugatuma and the Ohesaare cliffs contains several endemic genera such as <i>Methabocrinus</i>, <i>Saaremaacrinus</i>, and <i>Velocrinus</i>, which occur exclusively in the Pridoli of Saaremaa Island. These localities have great potential for future studies of crinoid paleobiology and paleoecology. The fossil symbiotic associations have high value for studies devoted to evolutionary paleoecology. The Kaugatuma and Ohesaare cliffs yield the only symbiotic associations that are known from the Pridoli worldwide. Both cliffs are also famous localities of early vertebrates. The Kaugatuma and Ohesaare cliffs are places of scenic beauty, and the rarity of fossiliferous Pridoli outcrops in the Baltic Sea region makes these cliffs important destinations for European geotourism.</p>","PeriodicalId":48924,"journal":{"name":"Geoheritage","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2024-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Geoheritage","FirstCategoryId":"89","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s12371-024-00957-7","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"GEOSCIENCES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The Upper Silurian exposures on Saaremaa Island, mostly represented by small coastal cliffs, are the best in Estonia. Among these exposures are two coastal cliffs that are in many ways unique. The Pridoli crinoid fauna at Kaugatuma and the Ohesaare cliffs contains several endemic genera such as Methabocrinus, Saaremaacrinus, and Velocrinus, which occur exclusively in the Pridoli of Saaremaa Island. These localities have great potential for future studies of crinoid paleobiology and paleoecology. The fossil symbiotic associations have high value for studies devoted to evolutionary paleoecology. The Kaugatuma and Ohesaare cliffs yield the only symbiotic associations that are known from the Pridoli worldwide. Both cliffs are also famous localities of early vertebrates. The Kaugatuma and Ohesaare cliffs are places of scenic beauty, and the rarity of fossiliferous Pridoli outcrops in the Baltic Sea region makes these cliffs important destinations for European geotourism.
期刊介绍:
The Geoheritage journal is an international journal dedicated to discussing all aspects of our global geoheritage, both in situ and portable. The journal will invite all contributions on the conservation of sites and materials - use, protection and practical heritage management - as well as its interpretation through education, training and tourism.
The journal wishes to cover all aspects of geoheritage and its protection. Key topics are:
- Identification, characterisation, quantification and management of geoheritage;
- Geodiversity and geosites;
- On-site science, geological and geomorphological research:
- Global scientific heritage - key scientific geosites, GSSPs, stratotype conservation
and management;
- Scientific research and education, and the promotion of the geosciences thereby;
- Conventions, statute and legal instruments, national and international;
- Integration of biodiversity and geodiversity in nature conservation and land-use
policies;
- Geological heritage and Environmental Impact Assessment studies;
- Geological heritage, sustainable development, community action, practical initiatives and tourism;
- Geoparks: creation, management and outputs;
- Conservation in the natural world, Man-made and natural impacts, climate change;
- Geotourism definitions, methodologies, and case studies;
- International mechanisms for conservation and popularisation - World Heritage Sites,
National Parks etc.;
- Materials, data and people important in the history of science, museums, collections
and all portable geoheritage;
- Education and training of geoheritage specialists;
- Pedagogical use of geological heritage - publications, teaching media, trails, centres,
on-site museums;
- Linking the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005- 2014) with geoconservation.