A 10-digit geo-coding system for classification of geomorphosites in India

India is a country with rich geo-wealth and geoheritage. There are numerous fascinating and exquisite landforms and landscapes in the Indian subcontinent that have immense cultural, socio-economic and scientific value and are significant from the point of view of geotourism and geoeducation. Presently, India has 32 World Heritage Properties, including seven natural properties. The Geological Survey of India (GSI) has declared 26 geosites as National Geological Monuments. Although a few attempts have been made in the last ten years to identify and catalog noteworthy geomorphosites in India, till date no attempt has been made to undertake multi-criteria or multi-attribute assessment and classification of the potential geomorphosites. In view of the limitations and difficulties in the ranking and/or scoring system adopted in many earlier studies on geoheritage sites, a simple ten-digit geo-coding system for some potential geomorphosites in India is suggested. The 10-digit coding system is a numerical scheme for the arrangement of geomorphosites on the basis of some key scientific value criteria, additional value criteria and management criteria as well as the IUCN geo-theme codes and the code numbers assigned to major geomorphic provinces in a region/country. This coding system could be used to establish a classification and the priority of geomorphosites and could be applied to any area or region in the world. The user-friendly geo-coding system has the potential to classify and sort geomorphosites of different characters, origin and value.