Geodiversity, marketing and photographic images:

Photography is an important instrument in tourism marketing, which aims to encourage consumption and consolidate the image of a tourist destination in consumers’ minds. The elements of geodiversity with aesthetic and cultural values are commonly used as differentiated products in tourism destinations. This article discusses the relation between geodiversity, tourism marketing and the use of photographs in consolidating the image of a destination, focusing on those based in geotourism practices. The case study analyzes photographs from tourism promotion materials of the Basque Coast UNESCO Global Geopark (Spain), seeking to understand the techniques, fieldwork, symbols and narratives present therein. The methodology involves a theoretical discussion, field work and a qualitative description of the photographs with physical attributes. Geological and geomorphological features of Basque Coast are shown in photographs, highlighting a singular geoheritage that sustains environmental and cultural conservation, a principle that every geopark should construct and transmit.

From local to regional 3D litho-structural modelling: a methodology towards multi-scale landslide susceptibility and hazard assessment

<p>A 3D litho-structural model synthetizes a geological setting by defining 3D geometries of lithological layers considering stratigraphic relationships, weathering and tectonics. It combines quantitative and qualitative data from different dimensions and acquisition types (field measures and observations, geophysics, boreholes, DEM) into a single structured database. This aesthetic 3D representation enables to work on the same object, despite different sources of datasets, making it a highly useful integrative tool for various ways to monitor and analyze landslides prone areas.</p><p>This type of model is used on site scale for large phenomena, for a better understanding of their internal structure and to extract information to be included for failure numerical modelling. However, there are a very few examples of 3D geological models used for large areas subject to spatially limited events. Indeed, the transition from 2D to 3D information remains difficult, especially in case of sparse input data, reinforcing 3D interpretation uncertainties and decreasing the robustness of the model. Thus, most of regional scale geological 3D models used for landslides analyses are simplified and the different lithological layers used for susceptibility and hazard assessments suffer from uncertainties difficult to quantify.</p><p>The aim of this contribution is to show how two local scale 3D geological models can contribute and improve the robustness of a regional 3D geological model for the purpose of landslide susceptibility and hazard assessment. The local and regional 3D geological models integrate different data types of uneven quality by successive iterations, to interpret structural and lithological layers geometries with GeoModeller. This software is based on cokriging calculation method of orientation and location of geological interfaces and faults. The regional model will be compared to the local 3D models results, as references to assess regional model uncertainties. This iterative process enables to improve each 3D model with different data sets from one scale to another. Still, models results must be confirmed by field validation to reduce uncertainties as much as possible.</p><p>This study focuses on the 40 km long French Basque coast in the southwest of France, which presents complex faulting and geological heterogeneities inherited from the Pyrenean orogeny – these are relatively well mapped along the shore. Both of the local sites are different and characteristic of regional coastal geomorphological types and of specific lithological formations. These are made of flyschs, limestones and marls, the top of which are more or less weathered and capped by Quaternary detritic formations of variable thickness. This coast is subject to various types of shallow and moderately deep instabilities (slides, rockfalls and flows). By defining the geometry of lithology and faults, the 3D models results will enable to:</p><ul><li>Characterize how lithology and structures, as predisposition factors, influence landslides susceptibility to specific landslide types,</li> <li>Integrate lithological layers and structural discontinuities to physical-based models to assess landslide susceptibility and hazard on regional (1 : 25,000) and on local (1 : 2,500) scales,</li> <li>Improve the geological knowledge of the French Basque coast.</li> </ul>

MULTI-SCALE INFRA-GRAVITY WAVE DYNAMICS - THE FRENCH BASQUE COAST

Phase-resolving numerical models are a powerful tool to identify and analyze dominant wave processes along a site of interest. We have carried out a numerical study related to infra-gravity wave dynamics along the French Basque coast. The computed scenarios are representative for the swell conditions at the site of interest and include variations in offshore wave height, direction, and water level. Several statistical methods were employed that illustrate that the irregular bathymetry is a key component for the strong variations in sea-swell and IG-wave energy. The water level is demonstrated to substantially affect the IG-wave behavior, more than the wave direction. Swash oscillations in the IG-frequency band are greater than or equal to sea-swell swash oscillations at nearly all locations along the studied shoreline.Recorded Presentation from the vICCE (YouTube Link): https://youtu.be/ELZwJCokkX0