Geodiversity of Samoa: An Untapped and Unique Geoheritage Hot Spot in the Southwestern Pacific (Geoheritage, Geoparks and Geotourism)

This book represents a pioneering effort, offering a comprehensive summary of the Geoheritage of the Southwestern Pacific (SW Pacific). Despite its globally significant Geoheritage , the region has not yet been addressed in its entirety within a cohesive geocultural context, either in book form or through similar media. The SW Pacific is still emerging as a focal point of Geoheritage research, and exploration of the vast geodiversity of this region has only recently begun. While some initial scientific reports exist for specific areas within the SW Pacific, there has been no comprehensive summary covering the entire region. Although the region is primarily renowned for its picturesque beaches and tranquil coastal landscapes, its rich Geocultural aspects remain largely underutilized and understudied.

It aims to fill this gap by providing a holistic exploration of the geodiversity and geoheritage of the Samoa islands. By offering an evidence-based and scientifically valid overview of the islands' geoheritage and geodiversity, the book seeks to serve as a foundational resource for future developments in the tourism sector and to define research directions and methodologies for expanding our understanding of volcanic oceanic islands' geoheritage. It will focus on geodiversity and geoheritage within the context of volcanic oceanic islands, which are unique in terms of their geological formations (such as volcanoes and lava fields) and their limited spatial extent within the vast Pacific Ocean basin.

This book will also highlight the special coastal regions of volcanic oceanic islands, which often feature fringed reefs and broad shallow marine environments housing unique and fragile ecosystems sensitive to global and planetary changes. By estimating geodiversity, the book will provide insight into how volcanic islands' geoheritage intersects with biodiversity. Geodiversity will be explored as the backdrop for the evolution of tropical marine and mountainous biodiversity in spatially limited areas under tropical conditions.

Moreover, this book aims to be a pioneering contribution, offering a methodological manual for exploring other islands from a geodiversity perspective. Currently, there is no similar publication on the market, making this book one of the first of its kind. The authors have conducted extensive research in Samoa, resulting in numerous high-level scientific publications and a wealth of information to be included in this book.

Károly Németh is an expert at the Saudi Geological Survey working on Volcanology, Geohazard, and Geoheritage of volcanic fields of the Arabian Peninsula. He is also a senior researcher at the Institute of Earth Physics and Space Science, Hungary; a Doctor of Sciences of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences; Adjunct Professor of the Volcanic Risk Solutions, Massey University, New Zealand; and a research affiliate at the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, Italy. He is the Chairperson of the Geoconservation Trust Aotearoa Pacific, based in New Zealand. He was a member of the Executive Committee of the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of Earth Interior, leading its Volcaniclastic Sediments, Monogenetic Volcanism and Volcanic Geoheritage commissions. In 2024, he has been elected to be one of the co-leaders of the IAVCEI Commission on Volcano Geology. Currently, he is a Vice President of the International Association of Sedimentologists and Chair of the International Union of Geological Sciences' Sub-commission on Geological Heritage Sites. He has worked in the SW Pacific in the last 20 years focusing on volcanic hazard and geoheritage research mostly in Vanuatu and Samoa. He has spent great deal of time in the region and accumulated substantial amount of knowledge and experiences on Pacific cultures and continuously explored the way how these unique geocultural aspect of the region could be more visible and valued. He has conducted numerous research, supervised and mentored young scientists in Samoa and presented large number of research outputs within the volcanic geoheritage of the Samoan Islands. His family base is in Samoa where his wife, Diana and son, Karcsi comes from.

Vladyslav Zakharovskyi is a Junior Research Officer at the Volcanic Risk Solutions, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand. His research focuses on geodiversity calculations, geoheritage categorization, and remote sensing. As a PhD research student at Massey University, he authored several influential publications about geodiversity, specifically focusing on the development of qualitative-quantitative assessments of geodiversity. This method offers practical estimates of geodiversity by identifying geosite hot spots. It is robust enough to use publicly available spatial data and local geoscience knowledge while allowing parameter adjustments for specific purposes such as geotourism or geoconservation projects, from local to global scales. He has worked on geodiversity projects associated with volcanic sites in New Zealand, Samoa, Hungary, and Saudi Arabia. Currently, he is exploring deeper levels of remote sensing in hyperspectral imaging and data processing with the introduction of new techniques into geodiversity studies.