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The Somoto Grand Canyon (Nicaragua)—a Volcanic Geoheritage Site One Decade After Discovery: from Field Geological Mapping to the Promotion of a Geopark

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Abstract

After its ‘discovery’ during field geological mapping by geologists of the Czech Geological Survey in 2004, the gorge of the Coco River in NW Nicaragua, now known as the Somoto Grand Canyon, has been turned into one of the most beautiful tourist attractions in Nicaragua. The canyon is developed in acid ignimbrites of Miocene age and is 3.5 km long and located between 13 and 14° N and 86–87° W, 12 km W of the town of Somoto. The gorge, which reaches a width of 4–10 m in its narrowest parts and a depth of up to 190 m, uncovers a range of unique pseudokarst features, such as giant erosion potholes and rock and sandy bars alternating with deep lakes. The Somoto Grand Canyon quickly became known to the public, and in 2006, it was declared a National Monument by law, and in 2007, a picture of the canyon appeared on the 50 córdobas banknote. The Somoto Grand Canyon is now considered as a famous object of geoheritage, belonging to one of the most famous sites in Nicaragua and there are aspirations that it could be included in the UNESCO Global Geopark Network, as the main geoheritage site of the planned Río Coco Geopark.

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Acknowledgements

The geological work was carried out in the framework of the project RP/2/2004 entitled “Geological research on natural hazards in the nearby town of Somoto”. The project was funded by the Government of the Czech Republic, commissioned by the Ministry of Environment of the Czech Republic, and the implementer was the Czech Geological Survey in collaboration with INETER (Instituto Nicaragüense de Estudios Territoriales). This article was supported by the Czech Geological Survey, Project Nos. 681800 and 321183. The authors are obliged to our colleague Tomáš Hroch for the most recent information from November 2016. The authors are also grateful to Craig Hampson for language correction. The quality of the manuscript benefited from valuable comments by José Luis Palacio-Prieto and an anonymous reviewer and careful editorial handling by Karoly Németh.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Czech Geological Survey, Klárov 3, 118 21, Praha, Czech Republic

    Vladimír Žáček, Petr Hradecký, Petr Kycl, Josef Ševčík & Roman Novotný

  2. Department of Geology and Paleontology, Natural History Museum, Burgring 7, 1010, Vienna, Austria

    Ivo Baroň

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  1. Vladimír Žáček
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  2. Petr Hradecký
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  3. Petr Kycl
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  4. Josef Ševčík
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Correspondence to Vladimír Žáček.

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Josef Ševčík recently retired

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Žáček, V., Hradecký, P., Kycl, P. et al. The Somoto Grand Canyon (Nicaragua)—a Volcanic Geoheritage Site One Decade After Discovery: from Field Geological Mapping to the Promotion of a Geopark. Geoheritage 9, 299–309 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12371-017-0221-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12371-017-0221-8

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