Geodiversity has elements of exceptional scientific value that are considered to represent geoheritage, or geological heritage. One way to conserve and promote the knowledge of these elements is through the initiatives of United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Global Geoparks, which, over a decade ago, began to notably highlight a new sustainable tourism alternative called geotourism, or geological tourism, that promotes the protection of the unique geological resources of territory and, at the same time, provides social, economic, and environmental benefits. This study aims to investigate the scientific information related to geotourism in the Scopus database through a bibliometric analysis, using the VOSviewer software, for the evaluation of the structure, conceptual evolution, and trends of geotourism following related publications. The research comprises four study phases: (i) search criteria of the research field; (ii) search and selection of documents; (iii) software and data extraction; and (iv) analysis of results and trends. The results present geotourism as a scientific discipline that is in a phase of exponential research growth and exhibits its scientific productivity from 1984 to 2019, where three main periods are differentiated: introduction, theoretical development, and diversification of information. The most active research area is geomorphological heritage, which is very far from the emerging line of research of engineering geology in geotourism. However, growing exploration during the last six years has generated the development of various geoscientific branches promoted by geotourism that, currently, present their research area trends such as geosites, geoheritages, and geoparks.

Since the Digne Convention in 1991, the literature related to Geoparks has gained a growing interest on the academy’s part, especially in achieving the preservation of geological interest sites through sustainable tourism. This article aims to provide an analysis of the academic research on Geoparks, based on publications in the Scopus database in the period 2002–2020. Bibliometric analysis methods and bibliographic display maps were examined using VOSviewer software. The bibliometric analysis process comprises three phases: (i) Search Criteria and Source Identification, (ii) software and data extraction, and (iii) data analysis and interpretation. The results show geoparks in full growth as a scientific discipline, thanks to the contribution of various authors, institutions, journals, and related topics that confirm the importance of this field of study. Additionally, bibliometric maps lead to an understanding of the intellectual structure of the subject, in which keyword co-occurrence analysis shows six main themes, ranging from ‘UNESCO Global Geoparks’ to ‘Geo-tourism-Sustainable Tourism’. this, combined with maps of co-citation, broadly exhibits this structure and development, showing areas of current interest and potential development, thus offering the latest knowledge on Geopark research worldwide. There is a growing concentration of research on geomorphological heritage and geo-tourism, focusing on methodologies to evaluate the specialities of this type of heritage and define the concept of geo-tourism; there is a great interest especially in the evaluation and identification of geo-site/geo-morphosites which try to eliminate subjectivity in methods and focus on sustainable development of the localities.

Geological heritage represents and brings together geological elements of great local and global relevance. It also promotes conservation and sustainable use. This study aims to perform a bibliometric analysis of the contributions that address the topics of geological heritage and geosites, using the Scopus and Web of Science databases for the knowledge of trends and research focuses in this area. The methodology consists of: (i) the preparation of the idea and gathering information from a search on the subjects of interest (geoheritage and geosites); (ii) the merging of the databases and applying automated conversions; and (iii) the analysis of the results and the literature review. The first phase of the work identified 2409 and 1635 documents indexed in Scopus and WoS, respectively. The merged global database (2565 documents) identified the following words as analysis topics: geoconservation, geotourism, geopark, and geodiversity. The analysis also revealed the top five countries in scientific contributions as Italy (12.1%), Spain (8.77%), China (5.67%), Portugal (5.35%), and Brazil (5.31%). Finally, most of the publications focus on the characterisation, assessment, and development of geosite initiatives. The main lines of action and contributions to the topics (7.91%) highlight the fact that geoscientists worldwide value geosites for geoconservation and geotourism strategies.

This study offers a detailed assessment of the geosites and mining sites present in the Zaruma-Portovelo mining district (Ecuador) through their qualitative and quantitative assessment. It shows up the potentiality of this area taking advantage of its geological-mining heritage. The methodological process includes: (i) compilation and inventory of all the sites within the study area with particular geological or mining interest; (ii) preparation of reports and thematic cartography, (iii) assessment and classification of the elements of geological-mining interest; (iv) SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis and TOWS (Threats, Opportunities, Weaknesses, Strengths) matrix preparation seeking strategies to guarantee the viability of geotourism. A total of 16 sites of geological interest and 11 of mining interest were identified. The 77% of these sites was proved to be of high and very high interest in scientific terms. Likewise, their susceptibility to degradation assessed from their vulnerability and fragility was found to be high or very high in the 30% of the cases. As for the protection priority, all the studied sites obtained a medium-high result. Finally, the study based on the SWOT-TOWS revealed the possibility of applying action strategies in order to facilitate the compatibility of geotourism with the current productive activities, despite the difficult situation in the study area created by mining activities.

Artificial intelligence (AI) plays an essential role in agricultural mapping. It reduces costs and time and increases efficiency in agricultural management activities, which improves the food industry. Agricultural mapping is necessary for resource management and requires technologies for farming challenges. The mapping in agricultural AI applications gives efficiency in mapping and its subsequent use in decision-making. This study analyses AI’s current state in agricultural mapping through bibliometric indicators and a literature review to identify methods, agricultural resources, geomatic tools, mapping types, and their applications in agricultural management. The methodology begins with a bibliographic search in Scopus and the Web of Science (WoS). Subsequently, a bibliographic data analysis and literature review establish the scientific contribution, collaboration, AI methods, and trends. The United States (USA), Spain, and Italy are countries that produce and collaborate more in this area of knowledge. Of the studies, 76% use machine learning (ML) and 24% use deep learning (DL) for agricultural mapping applications. Prevailing algorithms such as Random Forest (RF), Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs), and Support Vector Machines (SVMs) correlate mapping activities in agricultural management. In addition, AI contributes to agricultural mapping in activities associated with production, disease detection, crop classification, rural planning, forest dynamics, and irrigation system improvements.