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Geotourism in Regions with Influence from the Oil Industry: a Study Case of the Middle Magdalena Valley Basin (Colombia)

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Abstract

This paper discusses the petroleum geology-related sites along the Middle Magdalena Valley Basin (Colombia) and their potentials as geotourism resources. This initiative is based on the experience of the authors over several years of fieldwork in this region. There are different geological and anthropic features in this region, which are closely related to petroleum geology. The geotourism represents a strategic alternative for the promotion of sustainable tourism. The present work refers to geotourism in regions with influence of the oil industry, which would constitute a pioneering example in Latin America from the development of a scenic georoute for those who visit the operations of the oil industry through tourism programs. The region of interest has beautiful landscapes and is very useful for performing different geoeducation and geotourism activities for geoconservation purposes. All these sites and features can attract people to visit this region, not only geologists and geology students who want to study the petroleum geology of this region, but also the local communities and tourists who are interested in visiting it.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are very grateful to the Industrial University of Santander for supporting the development of numerous field works along the oil route, as well as for its analytical facilities. We thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions on this manuscript. We are very grateful to the people and institutions mentioned for their support.

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Correspondence to Carlos Alberto Ríos Reyes.

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The original online version of this article was revised: In this article the affiliation details for Carlos Alberto Ríos‑Reyes were incorrectly given as “Escuela de Geología, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Bucaramanga, Colombia” and “Escuela de Ingeniería Civil, Fundación Universitaria Agraria de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia” but should have been affiliated only to “Escuela de Geología, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Bucaramanga, Colombia”. The affiliation details for Oscar Mauricio Castellanos‑Alarcón were incorrectly given as “Escuela de Geología, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Bucaramanga, Colombia” but should have been affiliated only to “Programa de Geología, Universidad de Pamplona, Villa del Rosario, Colombia”. Finally, the affiliation details for Efraín Casadiego‑Quintero were incorrectly given as “Programa de Geología, Universidad de Pamplona, Cúcuta, Colombia” but should have been affiliated only to “Escuela de Ingeniería Civil, Fundación Universitaria Agraria de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia”.

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Reyes, C.A.R., Amorocho-Parra, R., Villarreal-Jaimes, C.A. et al. Geotourism in Regions with Influence from the Oil Industry: a Study Case of the Middle Magdalena Valley Basin (Colombia). Geoheritage 13, 107 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12371-021-00611-6

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