Conference “Volcans du Forez”
Maisons Paysannes de France and the Association of Friends of the Pic invites you to a conference-excursion “Volcans du Forez” Saturday, April 29, 2017.
This day organized by the Loire Maisons Paysannes de France’s delegation and presented by the geologist Jean Hernandez, secretary general of Maisons Paysannes de France.
The volcanoes of Forez, a volcanism unique “to the rest of Gaul”.
The Forez plain is a basin of collapse, separated from the Forez mountains by a fault whose estimated maximum rejection would be of the order of a few hundred meters. A hundred deposits of volcanic rocks have been found on the eastern slopes of the Forez mountains and the plain of Montbrison.
Heavily eroded, volcanoes are represented by shreds of streams, veins and necks (old chimneys). Explosive formations (tuffs, breccias) are often associated with lavas. Some deposits of “peperites”, rocks testifying to eruptions in lakes, are known in the plain.
Lava are so-called “alkaline” basalts in the broad sense, but they contain geochemical and mineralogical features that make it a very special area in the context of Tertiary volcanism in the Massif Central.
Lavas from the flap of Marcoux casting have been dated to 49 Ma, it would be the oldest known volcanism in the Massif Central, moreover the rock is of a unique composition in the Massif Central. The rest of the volcanism is between 24 and 13 Ma (Miocene).
We will complete this introduction to volcanism by visiting some remarkable sites in the plain and the Forez mountains between Palogneux and St. Georges-Haute-Ville.
Information and registration on 06 70 35 73 53 or by email loire@maisons-paysannes.org with your full name, membership number, address, internet address and telephone.
A participation of 30 € which includes lunch is requested from the participants. This participation is 20 € for the members (it is possible to join on the spot).
We will meet at 9 am at Pic de Montverdun. We will then carpool for the day which will end around 5:30 pm with a tasting of “basaltic” wine!
The exact program of the day will be sent to you upon receipt of your registration accompanied by your payment.
Registration before April 22nd. Entries are taken in order of arrival according to the number of places.
