Relationships Between Geoheritage and Environmental Dynamics in the Tanaro Valley (NW Italy): Geological Mapping and Geotourist Activities for a Proper Management of Natural and Cultural Landscapes

This paper analyzes a cultural landscape in the SW sector of the Piemonte region, along the Tanaro riverside, where the relationships between geo-resource and human activities are evident and give rise to landscapes of great cultural value but also to some environmental issues. A geo-tour allows us to deal with different topics based on geological and geomorphologic aspects, and gives special emphasis to the relationships between ‘Earth’s resources’ and human activities. The illustration of the stratigraphic, sedimentologic and micropalaeontologic characteristics of the sediments exposed along the trail allows us to illustrate the complex palaeonvironmental and palaeoclimatic changes that affected the study area during the Messinian Salinity Crisis. Moreover from the geomorphologic analysis of the present landscape it is possible to decipher its recent evolution and to evaluate the risks connected with the touristic fruition, thus improving the potential use of anthropogenic landforms for geo-environmental education.