Methodological and theoretical basis for inventory, qualification and quantification of the relevant geodiversity values the development of geotourism in the Caminho dos Diamantes (Estrada Real, MG, Brazil).

A difus?o de informa??es sobre os aspectos geol?gicos da regi?o em que vivemos ainda ? deficiente, dificultando seu entendimento pela grande maioria das pessoas. O patrim?nio geol?gico ? composto por s?tios com relev?ncia cultural, tur?stica, cient?fica ou did?tica. Em regi?es como o Caminho dos Diamantes, Minas Gerais, onde as vilas e aglomerados humanos p?s-colombianos foram formados em fun??o da atividade extrativa mineral, o patrim?nio geol?gico tamb?m engloba os registros relevantes da minera??o. T?o importantes quanto os recursos minerais extra?dos s?o as instala??es mineiras tais como as minas, galerias, escava??es e constru??es, cujos registros est?o dispersos por esta regi?o desde o s?culo XVIII. Neste artigo s?o descritos os m?todos utilizados para identifica??o, descri??o e quantifica??o de aspectos dos geoss?tios visitados. A aplica??o desses m?todos levou ? qualifica??o dos geoss?tios e possibilitaram a compara??o entre eles, estabelecendo uma ordem de relev?ncia em termos geotur?sticos.The dissemination of information about the geological features of the region in which we live is still deficient, that cause difficulties in their understanding by most people. The geological heritage is composed of sites with cultural, tourist, scientific or didactic relevance. In the Caminho dos Diamantes region (?daimond way?), Minas Gerais, where villages and post-Columbian human settlements were formed due to the mining activity, the geological heritage also encompass the relevant records of mining. As important as the extracted mineral resources are mining installations such as mines, galleries, excavations and buildings, whose records are scattered through this region since the eighteenth century. This paper describes the methods used to identify, describe and quantify aspects of the visited geosites. The application of these methods led to the qualification of geosites and enabled the comparison between them, establishing an order of relevance in geotouristic terms