Geoheritage of the Western Khibiny Ingenious Alkaline Rocks Intrusion (Kola Peninsula, Arctic Russia): Evaluation and Geotourism opportunities

Khibiny mountains are the largest alkaline-rock intrusion of the Kola Peninsula located at its central part and having a considerable impact on local geology. Reaching a height of 1200 m above sea level at its top (the highest point of Kola Peninsula), Khibiny is constructing the regional landscape for tens of kilometers around. Alpine character of the mountains area is unparalleled to any other territories on the Peninsula and is unique with its crags, rock bends, lofty precipices, boulders, crevices, and other landscape rock forms such as the leveling surface in the gable zone, denudation pavement, regoliths, outliers, and samples of physical weathering. In addition, there are numerous thresholds and bends filled with lakes and ponds, underground springs, crevice waterfalls, and other water sources. Such a landscape scenery makes the Khibiny mountain group a popular attraction for tourists and visitors of the region willing to get acquainted with the extraordinary local nature ranging from the taiga forests to the Arctic desert. The area also serves as a habitat for several fauna representatives, including brown bears and various Arctic birds species. The long-lasting human presence in the area manifests itself in the local toponymy of geographical names referring to the Saami language and culture. A particular interest lies in the history of the territory’s colonization and development as well as in numerous artifacts related to the Soviet and Russian imperial past (i.e., US steam engine from the early 1920s). Another option for possible tourist attraction might be found in the unusual substrate of alkaline rocks having a very rare type of mineralization containing eudialyte, lorenzenite, aenigmatite, or arfvedsonite with rare phases particular for only a few places in the world, as well as in a variety of locally discovered minerals that can be observed while hiking in the area. This uniqueness and significance have come to appreciate by establishing a local geological museum serving as a geocenter and by the area itself being acknowledged as a national park. All of this foregrounds the development and formalization of off-road hiking tourist routes. This article aims to meet this need by proposing a tourist trail in the area of western Khibiny while taking the reader on an excursion around this extraordinary area.