Geoheritage in Thermal Springs of Puruándiro, Michoacán, México

Both worldwide and in Mexico, multiple regions with thermal springs exist and have played an integral role in culture and daily life in these civilizations since pre-Hispanic up to modern times. Thermal springs have become places of high cultural importance, and most of the times have been used for balneology or as baths of local people. Unfortunately, in Mexico a lack of knowledge about the possible direct uses of geothermal energy for all these resources exists, and the relevance of their conservation, their role in the local sustainable development, and their historical trajectory as elements of local heritage and geo-heritage. The objective of this work was to classify the geoheritage in Puruándiro. In summary, this work presents two aspects of this classification: (1) classification of geosites in Puruándiro using educational, scientific, and cultural parameters according to the first geothermal exploration in the area and local opinion via a perception survey and (2) design and presentation of didactic and multidisciplinary material in Spanish (geo-map, geo-guide, and infographics) for use in situ in which the geosites and importance of their geoconservation are highlighted. The main results of this work denote highly scientific, educational, and cultural parameters of most of the thermal springs with a great potential for the direct use of geothermal energy in addition to highlighting these parameters as part of the local geoheritage and main axis in planning sustainable development of the region.