"Tracking volcanism - geotourism 6D" "Geotourism destinations of Eurasia" Tadeusz Molenda University of Silesia in Katowice, Faculty of Earth Sciences, Department of Physical Geography, Division of Hydrology and Water Management in Urban Areas, ul. Będzińska 60, 40-007 Sosnowiec e-mail: tedimolenda@interia.pl Stromboli eruption (Italy) WMud volcano (Azerbaijan)

Description popularizing the research project

Today's digital technology is a miracle. It is capable of persuading viewers they are diving in prehistoric ocean together with dinosaurs, floating in the space or visiting imaginary otherworlds. It is able to provide viewers with extraordinary illusions and mislead any of their senses. Modern cinemas and amusement parks go out of their way to offer their clients the most vivid experience in 3-, 4-, and n-D to make the viewers feel they participate in the scenes they observe.
Yet, it is a well-known fact that it is the real world that provides us with the richest sensations. Some of them, if in excess, are irritating like hooting car horns at a big city's busy junctions. Many of them we managed to forget, like about pitch dark on a moonless night without street lamps and neon lights. Tired of the city life we look for unusual sensations away from the civilization. We look for something strong, true and genuine. Active volcanism is a spectacular area of intensive experiences. In such places it is possible to enjoy fountains of glowing hot particles shoot from the crater into the dark sky. They can be accompanied by hisses, bangs, and crackles. The sense of smell will detect hydrogen sulphide, the sense of touch tremors of the ground. Vast variety of volcanoes and pseudo-volcanoes, fumaroles and solfataras (which mainly erupt with gases), geysers in Europe, Asia and other continents guarantee that the phenomena can be experienced with other senses too. The sense of taste and temperature can be engaged in getting to know one of the phenomena: a geyser. Highly mineralised, often hot water of a geyser is slightly salty. Many of them are treated like geotourist attractions, which give people first-hand experience of the phenomena occurring under the crust of our planet and, with due care, unique emotions. Yet if the volcano is dormant, then we can always go to the 5-, or 6-D cinema.

Abstract

Geotourism is a rapidly growing branch of tourism. It is a form of cognitive tourism, and its main focus is a variety of objects and phenomena of inanimate nature, as well as specific landscapes, such as mountains, volcanoes, deserts, karsts, etc., with a large number of geological and geomorphological values. The presented photos show selected geo-objects of Eurasia. The objects are associated with areas of active volcanism. In the areas, we can see such objects as volcanoes, fumaroles, solfataras and geysers. The photos show 'classical' Stromboli volcano (Italy) and mud volcanoes (Azerbaijan).

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