MOST OUTSTANDING VOLCANIC CAVES OF AZORES ISLANDS AS POTENTIAL GEOSITES OF THE “AZORES GEOPARK”

Resume-se o trabalho de M.P. Costa J.C. Nunes , E.A. Lima , A.M. Porteiro , J. P. Constância , F. Pereira , P. Barcelos & P.A.V. Borges, sobre classificação das cavidades vulcânicas dos Açores, publicado na UNESCO Global Geoparks Network.

The impressive geodiversity of Azores archipelago and the high value (or relevance) of the sites that it includes justifies the proposal of the “Azores Geopark”, which is being prepared by the Azores Government, to present it to UNESCO and to propose their integration on the European and Global Geoparks Networks.
Given the archipelagic nature of the Region, it is proposed that the Azores Geopark includes a set of areas, well studied and delimited, spread all over the nine islands of the archipelago and neighboring seafloor. These areas are considered to be representative of the Azorean geodiversity and are selected among a broader group of sites taking into account the value of the geosites, trough a process of evaluation, on a quantification basis.
The ongoing Azores Geopark proposal includes 30 volcanic caves of Rank A (Table 1) among the 271 caves of the IPEA database, that were sorted (e.g. Rank A, B, C and D) in accordance to their importance in terms of scientific, singularity and beauty and integrity attributes. The ranking of Azorean caves is among the several contributions by “GESPEA”, the Working Group on Volcanic Caves of Azores, and is one of the functions of “IPEA”, the Azorean Speleological Inventory and Classifying System database.
This database incorporates six major classification issues (e.g. scientific value, potential for tourism, access, surrounding threats, available information and conservation status) and each classification comprises five classes (I to V) where the volcanic caves are sorted as a result of a weight calculation based on nine criteria: biologic component, geologic features, accessibility, singularity and beauty, safety, caving progress, threats, integrity and available information.
Table 1. Azores Volcanic Caves of Rank A.

Volcanic Cave Island
Furna do Enxofre Graciosa
Algar/Gruta do Alto do Morais Pico
Algar/Gruta do Canto da Serra Pico
Furna das Cabras II Pico
Furna de Henrique Maciel Pico
Furna do Frei Matias Pico
Furna Nova II Pico
Gruta da Ribeira do Fundo Pico
Gruta das Canárias Pico
Gruta das Torres Pico
Gruta do Cão Pico
Gruta do Mistério da Silveira I Pico
Gruta do Soldão Pico
Gruta dos Azevinhos Pico
Gruta dos Montanheiros Pico
Gruta dos Túmulos Pico
Furna Vermelha Pico
Gruta do Salazar Pico
Algar das Bocas do Fogo S. Jorge
Gruta da Rua do Paim São Miguel
Gruta de Água de Pau São Miguel
Algar do Carvão Terceira
Galeria da Queimada Terceira
Gruta da Madre de Deus Terceira
Gruta da Malha Terceira
Gruta das Agulhas Terceira
Gruta do Caldeira Terceira
Gruta do Chocolate Terceira
Gruta do Natal Terceira
Gruta dos Balcões Terceira

(In UNESCO)