Potential geohazards in Varkala coastal cliffs: an ideal hotspot for geotourism in South Western India

K.S. Sajinkumar (*)
(*) Department of Geology, University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram-695581, Kerala, India. E-mail: sajinks@gmail.com

The coastal cliffs along the south western continental margin of India expose the Tertiary sedimentary sequence of Quilon and Warkalli Formations. Varkala, a coastal hamlet, is a famous tourist destination attracting scores of tourists round the year to its beaches because this tropical coast is bestowed with beautiful wave-cut cliffs. Cliffs together with confined beaches made Varkala a beautiful tourist destination. The cliff is the type area for the Warkalli Formation. The entire cliff running for about 5.5 km was recently proposed for declaring as a 'National Geopark' by the Geological Survey of India (GSI). These cliffs are retreating landwards due to a combination of factors like continuous wave action, fragility of the lateritic formations and ultimately human interference. The paper aims at understanding the types of geohazards affecting the cliffs, to study the temporal changes in shoreline using historic data, to protect the cliffs from the vagaries of the nature and popularizing the Varkala cliffs for UNESCO's 'Geoheritage Site'. For sure, the area fulfills all the criteria to be declared as a 'Geoheritage Site'.

Coastal cliffs, coastal landslides, geopark, geotourism, Kerala