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Many professional groups have their own perspectives, rules and also a specific understanding of language. Geologists and miners greet each other with “Good luck!”. When you talk about rock sequences as “lying,” you mean the lower parts. Accordingly, the “hanging end” stands for upper areas. It is hardly surprising that dealing with the 4.6 billion year old, seemingly "dead" rock world brings with it its own perspectives and values.
In order to properly celebrate the 60th anniversary of the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS), founded in 1961, 485 experts from 40 countries searched for the 100 most important key sites in the history of the earth (IUGS Geological Heritage Site). The global call to name scientifically important points met with a broad response from experts. The 100 stony points on the planet published in 2022 soon turned out to be too few. A further 100 locations followed in 2024. In the summer of 2024, 55 important building stones were added - an important interface in the field of architecture and cultural history.
In order to be included in the global league of geological features at the highest level - this is referred to as an "IUGS Geological Heritage Site" - important criteria must be met - similar to the UNESCO World Heritage Site. It's about key places where geologically relevant phenomena or processes of the highest scientific importance are combined. In many cases these are global reference points or places where – to strain an image – chapters in the history of geosciences were written. An example: The quarry in which the boundary between the Mesozoic and the Modern Era was defined at 66 million years ago (the cause was an asteroid impact) would be such a place; it can be found on page 66f [sic!].
The original reads as follows: "An IUGS Geological Heritage Site is a key place with extraordinary geological elements or processes of the highest scientific relevance, used as a global reference, and/or with a substantial contribution to the development of geological sciences through history."
First of all: Places and occurrences in Austria cannot be found among the top 200 or the 55 most important rocks, although local names, including Christian Köberl, Bernhard Grasemann (both University of Vienna) and Markus Fiebig (Boku), can be found on the jury and among the submitters.
Both books have a clear structure into nine sections. Starting with places that are important for understanding the historical development of geosciences, chapters on sedimentology, paleontology, volcanology, mineralogy and geomorphology follow, up to impact craters. Each location (IUGS Geological Heritage Site) is presented on two pages; brilliant images, understandable graphics and easy-to-read texts, which do not necessarily require a specialist degree but do require specialist interest, make access easier.
Each chapter is preceded by a world map showing the location of the following localities. A glance shows that not only the Old and New Worlds are represented, but also New Zealand and Australia. Numerous UNESCO World Heritage sites included here once again underline their high geological significance. Highlights here include Vesuvius or the Latemar Group in the Dolomites in Italy, the rocks with the meteor monasteries in Greece or the Nördlinger Ries as an impact structure in Germany.
The structure of the "Best of" rocks ("IUGS Heritage Stone") follows the three main rock groups. Sedimentary rocks include limestone, sandstones and clays, metamorphic rocks include marbles, gneiss and slate, and igneous rocks include granites and volcanic rocks. Construction, decoration and those stones that are important in the history of humanity were taken into account ("recognized as integral aspects of human culture"). Accordingly, on the four pages for each rock there is not only information about deposits, quarries and petrography, but also a section on architectural and cultural significance.
First of all, two German stones should be singled out: the Jura marble (p. 62ff), a light limestone that also adorns numerous facades in Austria, and the Solnhofen limestone (p. 98ff), whose uniformly homogeneous, beige slabs are not only found on numerous floors ("Kehlheimer slabs"), but are also used for stone printing (lithography). The fact that the Carrara marble (Italy), which has been mined for 2,000 years and was used by sculptors such as Michelangelo and Lorenzo Bernini, also appears in the book (p. 134f.) falls into the category of "obviously!"
Conclusion: The three books, which represent the "best of" from the field of geosciences, once again show the diverse meanings that are hidden in the - in the truest sense of the word - colorful world of rocks. But with 255 places and rocks, only the tip of the iceberg is covered; more books may follow! (Thomas Hofmann, October 18, 2024)