100 new sites

Dead Sea and Vesuvius are now geological heritage sites

The International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) has recognized 100 new "Geological Heritage Sites" at a congress in South Korea. These include the Vesuvius volcano in Italy, the Dead Sea in Israel and Iodania.

The Vatnajökull glacier in Iceland and the Yosemite Valley in the USA are also new "geological heritage sites". There is no such site in Austria to date. The meteorite collection of the Natural History Museum Vienna has now been recognized as an "IUGS Geo-Collection".

According to the Union's website, the designated sites are places "with exceptional geological elements or processes of the highest scientific relevance that serve as a global reference and/or have made a significant contribution to the development of geological sciences throughout history".

The Vatnajökull glacier(Bild: AFP)

"Significant for understanding the Earth"
In addition, "Geological Heritage Sites" and "IUGS Geo-Collections" will be recognized, which contain collections of data and samples "that are crucial to the understanding of the Earth and extraterrestrial bodies." Such collections would educate and inspire the public, preserve the planetary record for future generations and enable research.

The excellent meteorite collection in Vienna is the oldest collection of its kind in the world. It comprises more than 7000 inventoried objects from around 2400 localities. Around 1000 of these objects are on display in the showroom. "With this initiative, we also want to support less well-funded collections, especially in countries of the Global South, where there are often very relevant collections that have little visibility," said Mathias Harzhauser, Head of the Geological-Palaeontological Department at the NHM Vienna.