An Application for European Geopark Status for the Aspiring Bakony–Balaton Geopark Project, Hungary Table of Contents A. Identification of the Area 1 A.1. Name of the proposed Geopark 1 A.2. Surface area, physical and human geography characteristics of the proposed Geopark 1 A.3. Organization in charge and management structure 3 A.4. Application contact person 3 B. Geological Heritage 4 Bakony–Balaton Geopark: land of the calmed-down volcanoes and dinosaurs (a preface in 150 words...) 4 B.1. Location 4 B.2. General geological description 4 B.3. Listing and description of geological sites, details on the interest of these sites 15 C. Geoconservation 35 C.1. Current or potential pressure on the proposed Geo park 35 C.2. Current status in terms of protection of geological sites 36 C.3. Data on the management and maintenance of these sites 36 C.4. Listing and description of non-geological sites and how they are integrated into the proposed Geopark 37 D. Economic Activity and Business Plan 44 D.1. Economic activity in the proposed Geopark 44 D.2. Existing and planned facilities for the proposed Geopark 44 D.3. Analysis of geotourism potential in the proposed Geopark 46 D.4. Overview and policies for the sustainable development of geotourism and economy, geoeducation and geoheritage 47 D.5. Policies for, and examples of, community empowerment (involvement and consultation) in the proposed Geopark 47 D.6. Policies for, and examples of, public and stakeholder awareness in the proposed Geopark 48 E. Interest and arguments for joining the EGN/GGN 48 An Application for European Geopark Status for the Aspiring i Bakony–Balaton Geopark Project, Hungary Written by: Tamás Budai DSc Geologist, Geological Institute of Hungary, Budapest Gábor Csillag PhD Geologist, Geological Institute of Hungary, Budapest János Futó Geologist, Lapilli Natural History Research LP, Zirc Anna Knauer Official in charge of tourism, Balaton Uplands National Park Directorate, Csopak Barnabás Korbély Official in charge of geology and speleology, Balaton Uplands National Park Directorate, Csopak György Kukely PhD Geographer, Terra Studio Ltd, Budapest Attila Ősi PhD Paleontologist, Hungarian Academy of Sciences–Eötvös Loránd University, Lendület Dinosaur Research Group Judit Regenye PhD Archæologist, Museum Directorate of Veszprém County, Veszprém Veronika Schleicher Etnographer, Museum Directorate of Veszprém County, Veszprém József Vers Ranger Service of Nature Conservation, Balaton Uplands National Park Directorate, Csopak In cooperation with: Annamária Kopek PhD Head of the Department of Tourism and Education, Balaton Uplands National Park Directorate, Csopak Szilárd Somlai Official in charge of education, Balaton Uplands National Park Directorate, Csopak Edina Soós Official in charge of financial issues, Balaton Uplands National Park Directorate, Csopak Lajos Katona Geologist, Natural History Museum of Bakony, Zirc Editor, design, DTP and GIS works by Barnabás Korbély Translated by: Ildikó Selmeczi PhD Geologist, Geological Institute of Hungary & Arpadites Ltd, Budapest Anna Knauer Balázs Majkó Dyx Translator and Supplier LP, Hajmáskér Barnabás Korbély For reason of simplification, Bakony–Balaton Geopark (or BBGp) is used in this application dossier in the meaning “The candidate, Bakony–Balaton Geopark, being proposed for nomination as a European Geopark”. Body text is set in Monotype Janson® which is the name given to an old-style serif typeface named for Dutch punch-cutter and printer Anton Janson. Research in the 1970s and early 1980s, however, concluded that the typeface was the work of a Hungarian punch-cutter named Miklós (Nicholas) TÓTFALUSI KIS (1650–1702). He travelled to Amsterdam in 1680 to apprentice under Dirk Voskens and cut several typeface while working under him, producing a roman text face c. 1685 upon which present-day Janson is based. For more info (in English) please visit: http://web.archive.org/web/200101060425/http://web.idirect.com/~nfhome/kis.htm ii An Application for European Geopark Status for the Aspiring Bakony–Balaton Geopark Project, Hungary the East the Great Hungarian Plain, whereas on the West the Little Hun- garian Plain extends into its area. These areas surround the Lake Balaton. The predominant part of the Geopark belongs to the so-called ‘Bako- nyvidék’, which comprises the following terrains: North Bakony (consist- ing of the so-called ‘High Bakony’ and the ‘East Bakony’), South Bakony, Balaton Uplands and Keszthely Mountains. The Tapolca Basin is situated be- tween the three latter regions. Rising to 709 m a.s.l., the Kőris-hegy is the highest point in the Bakony Mountains and in the area of the Geopark, whereas the water level of the Lake Balaton (104 m a.s.l.) represents the lowest area of the Geopark. The High Bakony is made up of 500–600-m-high blocks of a diameter of some km. These blocks are separated by basins of the similar size. Hills made up of hard rocks (limestone, dolomite) are covered with decidu- ous forests, whereas the internal basins (of an altitude of 300–400 m a.s.l. A. Identification of the Area A.1. Name of the proposed Geopark Bakony–Balaton Geopark (please note: there is an en dash [–] character between the two geographical names, and not a hyphen [-]) A.2. Surface area, physical and human geography charac- teristics of the proposed Geopark Administrative data The total administrative area of the Geopark is 3 578 km2 but this also includes the area of Lake Balaton. The total land area — territory of the proposed Geopark— is 3 140 km 2 . It comprises the administrative areas One of the many gorges in Bakony Mts of 151 settlements (in 15 micro-regions, 9 of them are covered partially). and filled with loose sediments) are used for agricultural purposes. The There are 19 counties in Hungary, the area of the Geopark covers four landscape is dissected by picturesque gorges of the creeks. The karst ones: 134 settlements belong to Veszprém County, 13 to Zala County, 2 to plateau (450–500 m a.s.l.) of the East Bakony, which is covered merely by Győr–Moson–Sopron County and also 2 to Somogy County. patches of vegetation, gradually descends north-eastward (to an altitude of 250 m). Hundreds of sink-holes, dolines and caves can be found in it, and 0 10 20 deep, rocky valleys have been incised into its rim. The Bakony is divided Pannonhalma km into a northern and a southern part by the Veszprém–Devecser trough. The Pápa international main road E66 runs in this tectonic depression of an alti- Zirc tude of 200–300 m; this territory is mainly under agricultural use. The two highest peaks of the South Bakony — i.e. the Kab-hegy (599 m a.s.l.) Várpalota and the Agár-tető (511 m a.s.l.) — are of basalt-volcanic origin. The rest of Devecser the area is built up of limestone and dolomite forming 400–500-m-high blocks separated by internal and marginal basins. The neighbouring Ajka Veszprém Balaton Uplands area on the South is characterised by a strike of NE– SW direction. Its mountain ranges are dissected into some-km-wide Sümeg Balatonalmádi blocks of a height of 300–400 m, which encircle smaller or larger basins. Towards the NE this area is joined by the Veszprém Plateau, and the pre- Zalaszentgrót Balatonfüred dominantly carbonate rocks of Triassic age descend under the young deposits of the Várpalota Basin. W of the Balaton Uplands half a dozen of Tapolca volcanic remnant hills rise 300–400 m a.s.l. above the floor of the Tapolca Basin characterised by an altitude of 150– 200 m a.s.l.. Among these hills Hévíz the best-known is the 437-m-high Badacsony. The south-western area is Keszthely dominated by the plateau of the Keszthely Mountains reaching an alti- Fonyód tude of about 400 m and made up of dolomite. The surface covered with forests is strongly dissected by valleys and descends gradually towards Administrative map of the proposed Geopark (red: geopark boundary, white: boundaries of Micro-regions, gray: boundaries of municipalities) Regions The proposed Geopark is situated in the central part of the Hungar- ian Transdanubia, in the north-western part of the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe — encircled by young folded mountain ranges. Its more than 3 100 km2 area is located at the boundary of 4 major geographic regions, therefore it is characterised by a great variety of geological, topograph- ic, climatic and hydrological features and a great biodiversity. On the North the Transdanubian Range, on the South the Transdanubian Hills, on Sunset at Lake Balaton. The volcanic remnant hills of Tapolca Basin can be seen in the background An Application for European Geopark Status for the Aspiring 1 Bakony–Balaton Geopark Project, Hungary the Lake Hévíz. The limestone block of the Sümeg fortress rises on the western rim of the Geopark. The plain of the Marcal Basin — which be- longs to the Little Hungarian Plain — is located north of it. The solitary Somló hill (432 m a.s.l.) rises above the surrounding area of an altitude of 150 m a.s.l. This extinct volcano is regarded as a particular wine- growing region. The Fortress Hill at Fonyód and the diatreme remnant at Balatonboglár also belong to the basalt-capped volcanic remnant hills. In the South, the 77 km-long Lake Balaton is bordered by the slopes of the Somogy Hills which are dissected by smaller and larger swamps. The depth of the 5–10 km wide Lake Balaton — which is suitable for swim- ming and sailing — does not exceed some metres in the sub-basins. The swamp area of the Kis-Balaton (‘Small Balaton’) is a large bird reserve. The thousand-year-old abbey of the Tihany Peninsula, which extends into the lake, was built on the calcareous-siliceous sediments of volcanic ther- mal springs.