ICA-Proc Proceedings of the ICA ICA-Proc Proc. Int. Cartogr. Assoc. 2570-2092 Copernicus Publications Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/ica-proc-4-82-2021 Geodiversity mapping of the Bakony–Balaton UNESCO Global Geopark, Hungary Pál Márton https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6321-7803 1 2 Albert Gáspár https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1723-8328 2 ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Doctoral School of Earth Sciences, Hungary ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Faculty of Informatics, Institute of Cartography and Geoinformatics, Hungary 03 12 2021 4 82 Copyright: © 2021 Márton Pál 2021 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This article is available from https://ica-proc.copernicus.org/articles/4/82/2021/ica-proc-4-82-2021.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://ica-proc.copernicus.org/articles/4/82/2021/ica-proc-4-82-2021.pdf

Geodiversity is the natural range of elements in the physical environment. The relationships, properties, and systems of geoscientific features have an impact not only on the natural world but also on cultural and societal aspects of life. Geodiversity can be considered as a quantitative variable that is unevenly distributed all over the world. This spatial variability helps to locate areas with a high degree of geodiversity. These areas can be the basis of further nature protection and geotourism purposes: high geodiversity usually means higher scientific/cultural/ecological values in an area. We present a GIS-based workflow in which we collect, evaluate, and visualize geoscientific variables to provide information on the geodiversity of the Bakony–Balaton UNESCO Global Geopark in Hungary. By using mainly freely accessible data and an open-source GIS environment, we aim to develop a method that can be applied in many areas of the world. The evaluation is built up by the determination of five sub-indices per unit area, which are related to the elements of geodiversity: geology, relief, hydrology, soil, palaeontology, and mineralogy. The geodiversity index is the sum of the sub-indices. The current tourism potential is mainly found in the high geodiversity regions: the Balaton Uplands, the Tapolca Basin, the Káli Basin, and the Bakony Mountains. The results show that the current geopark infrastructure is in accordance with the geodiversity, but it took several years to reach this state. However, new geoparks are established every year and their infrastructure is yet to be planned. The method we apply helps in this process by using open-source data in the assessment and provides a workflow in areas that have not been evaluated before.