Toward a semantic representation of geoheritage

In this paper we address the semantic representation of the geoheritage. In literature, geoheritage is defined as those elements of geodiversity that are outstanding for their value/importance for humanity. It is part of the UNESCO heritage, included in the point concerning the cultural aspect of natural features. The issue addressed in this paper is that the concept of value and the lists of values are quite an open question: the concept of value is given for granted in the geoheritage literature, and the lists of values are proposed in multiple versions, by multiple authors in multiple application fields. The result is the incoherence in the assessment of what is and what is not an element of geoheritage. In this paper we explore the issue, presenting how a semantic approach may be an opportunity to reduce the level of incoherence in the representation of the concept of geoheritage.