Visakhapatnam: Visakhapatnam and north coastal Andhra has the potential to become a hub for geological tourism as it has several interesting geomorphic features, mostly formed by the juxtaposition of hills and seas, say geology experts.The department of geology at Andhra University is also interested to enter into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government to promote geological tourism through projects such as a geo-environmental park, submarine glass house to view aquatic fauna and seeding or growing of coral reef in shallow water zones.M Jagannadha Rao, a geology professor at Andhra University, said, “To promote geo-tourism in the region, certain projects can be taken up regarding which our department from AU is willing to collaborate with the government in providing technical, academic and advisory help. Some of these include a geo-environment park in around 200-300 acres land along the coast, which will feature the rocks, sand dunes, hills, minerals and so on. It would be an eco-friendly, no-plastic zone where solar energy and battery-operated vehicles would be used to take tourists on a tour through the park.”“Identification of shallow water zones for coral reef seeding can be undertaken. Besides, a sub-marine glass house can be built under water. A science and rock museum can also be envisaged,” added Prof Rao.According to the department of deology at Andhra University, some of the interesting geological features in and around the rocky Vizag beaches include wave-cut platforms or natural rock bridge formations between the beaches stretching from Rushikonda to Bheemilipatnam. There are also some natural cave-like structures on the sand dunes and the geo-heritage site of Red Sand Hills or the Erra Matti Dibbalu, formed around 12,000 years ago in the late Quaternary Period near Bheemili. Vizag and surroundings have the oldest Pre-Cambrian era rocks, dating back to around 2,500 million years ago. The most common rocks found here are khondalites, charnockites, leptynites and quartzites..

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