Where do the paving rocks of the Champs Élisées come from? The last stage of this Tour de France brings us back to the Paris Basin. Paris itself is built on the younger rock packages that were deposited in this … Continue reading →
Geology, terroir, wine grapes, and appellation Saint-Émilion is famous for its wines. The quality of wine is of course dependent on the quality of the grape, and that depends on the climate at which the vine grows and the nutrients … Continue reading →
8 km of sediment in the Aquitaine Basin After the spectacle of the Pyrenees, in the stages as well as in the geological history, the peloton descends into the second largest basin of France: the Aquitaine Basin. Along the northern … Continue reading →
Pau was next to … the Po plain! The last ride through the Pyrenees brings us from the city of Pau to Luz Ardiden. In earlier stages, we have seen how the margins of western France and northern Spain were … Continue reading →
The last remains of the Pyrenean glaciers (with input from Walter Immerzeel) The ride from Muret to the Col du Portet brings us close to the last remains of glaciers in the Pyrenees. During the last ice ages, the Pyrenees … Continue reading →
Andorra as the mirror image of the Armorican Margin The stage from Pas de la Case in Andorra to Saint Gaudens in Southern France will lead us back from the Axial Zone of the Pyrenees to the foreland of Southern … Continue reading →
The Pyrenees and the collision of Iberia and Europe Today, the peloton will enter the Pyrenees. The Pyrenees are, just like the Alps, the result of the closure of an oceanic basin, after which continental margins started to slide over … Continue reading →
The Carcassonne Basin as archive of the rise of the Pyrenees The last stage before entering the Pyrenees brings us throughthe Carcassonne Basin. This sedimentary basin contains sediments of approximately 60 to 30 million years old and is the easternmost … Continue reading →
The Provence Margin, and the break-up with Sardinia and Corsica Today’s transition stage leads us parallel to the coast of southern France – the Provence Margin – towards the Pyrenees. Just like the Armorican Margin, the Provence Margin is the … Continue reading →
Desiccation of the Mediterranean Sea, and Châteauneuf-du-Pape The first transition stage towards the Pyrenees leads the peloton through the Rhône valley. This valley lies in the foreland of the Alps and is mainly fed by water and sediments that come … Continue reading →