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This research was funded by the 'Registry of geological and mining heritage and its impact on the defense and preservation of geodiversity in Ecuador' academic research project by ESPOL University. CIPAT-01-2018.

Analysis of institutional authors

Borja-Bernal, CCorresponding AuthorMaldonado-Zamora, AAuthor

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June 7, 2021
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Article

Geosites and Geotourism in the Local Development of Communities of the Andes Mountains. A Case Study

Publicated to:Sustainability. 13 (9): 4624- - 2021-05-01 13(9), DOI: 10.3390/su13094624

Authors: Carrion-Mero, Paul; Borja-Bernal, Cesar; Herrera-Franco, Gricelda; Morante-Carballo, Fernando; Jaya-Montalvo, Maria; Maldonado-Zamora, Alfonso; Paz-Salas, Nataly; Berrezueta, Edgar;

Affiliations

Bira Bienes Raices SA BIRA SA, Zaruma 071350, Ecuador - Author
ESPOL Polytech Univ, Ctr Invest & Proyectos Aplicados Ciencia Tierra C, Guayaquil 9015863, Ecuador - Author
ESPOL Polytech Univ, Fac Ciencias Nat & Matemat FCNM, Guayaquil 9015863, Ecuador - Author
ESPOL Polytech Univ, Fac Ingn Ciencias Tierra, Guayaquil 9015863, Ecuador - Author
ESPOL Polytech Univ, Georecursos & Aplicac GIGA, Guayaquil 9015863, Ecuador - Author
Inst Geol & Minero Espana IGME, Dept Infraestruct Geocient & Serv, Oviedo 33005, Spain - Author
Univ Estatal Peninsula Santa Elena UPSE, Fac Ciencias Ingn, La Libertad 240204, Ecuador - Author
Univ Guayaquil UG, Fac Ciencias Nat, Guayaquil 9015863, Ecuador - Author
Univ Politecn Madrid, Dept Ingn Geol & Minera, Escuela Tecn Super Ingenieros Minas & Energia, Madrid 28031, Spain - Author
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Abstract

The inventory and assessment of a geosite in a territory provides a sound basis for the protection and use of its geological heritage. This article aims to evaluate the most relevant geosites in the province of Chimborazo (Ecuador), applying the Spanish Inventory of Sites of Geological Interest (IELIG, in Spanish) method, and proposing alternatives for geotourism development in the studied area. The methodological process was based on: (i) the inventory and preliminary selection of geosites; (ii) a semi-quantitative geosite assessment and proposal of travel itineraries for geotourism; and (iii) the application of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) matrix to establish geotourism development strategies within a framework of sustainability. The global assessment of scientific, tourist, and academic interests demonstrates that 25% of the 20 evaluated geosites have very high interest and 75% have high interest. The top three geosites with the highest degrees of interest are the Chimborazo Volcano, known as 'Earth's Closest Point to the Sun', the Pallatanga geological fault, and the geosite named Comunidad Cacha. The SWOT analysis reveals that travel itineraries that combine cultural heritage elements and geosites could offer a real alternative for the region's sustainable development through geotourism.

Keywords

Chimborazo volcanoDepressionEcosystemEcuadorGeoconservationGeodiversityGeoheritageGeological heritageGeoparkGeositesGeotourismHistorySustainable development

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Sustainability due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency Scopus (SJR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2021, it was in position , thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Geography, Planning and Development.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations from Scopus Elsevier, it yields a value for the Field-Weighted Citation Impact from the Scopus agency: 1.81, which indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 14, 2024)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Field Citation Ratio (FCR) from Dimensions: 34.37 (source consulted: Dimensions Jul 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-07-18, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 14
  • Scopus: 36

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-07-18:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 322.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 349 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 0.85.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 1 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Ecuador.

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been BORJA BERNAL, CESAR PATRICIO.