Le patrimoine géologique de la France
Le patrimoine géologique français est particulièrement riche et divers. Des réserves naturelles sont créées spécifiquement dès 2001, pour protéger le patrimoine géologique remarquable et évaluer sa dimension patrimoniale selon son intérêt scientifique, pédagogique, historique, sa rareté et son état de conservation. Chaque réserve doit faire l’inventaire de son patrimoine géologique et l’intégrer à toutes les approches du plan de gestion qui fixe les enjeux et stratégies de la politique de conservation sur son territoire.
French geological heritage is particularly rich and diverse. Nature reserves have been created specifically since 2001 to protect remarkable geological heritage and assess its heritage value based on its scientific, educational and historical interest, its rarity and its state of conservation. Each reserve must inventory its geological heritage and integrate it into all approaches of the management plan that defines the stakes and strategies of conservation policy on its territory.
2 chapters
- Preserving geological heritageGeologically-founded reservesAs of October 2015, France has 20 nature reserves created specifically on the scientific basis of geological heritage to be preserved.Reserves protecting species and habitatsThere are also 52 reserves created to protect rare species and habitats while additionally preserving geological heritage.Reserve statisticsIn total, 72 nature reserves allow the conservation of geological heritage, including 57 national and Corsican reserves and 15 regional ones. They represent just under a quarter of all nature reserves in France.
- Remarkable geological objectsSedimentary formations and stratotypesAmong the remarkable geological objects (outcrops, rocks, minerals, fossils, formations or structures) that these nature reserves aim to protect, the most numerous are sedimentary formations and stratotypes, type outcrops of fossiliferous sedimentary rocks used as international reference standards. For example, the Hettange-Grande national nature reserve (Moselle) ensures the conservation of the Hettangian stratotype (stage of the Lower Jurassic between -205 and -201 Ma) particularly rich in marine fossils (gastropods, bivalves) accumulated in sandstones.Paleontological depositsNature reserves also protect paleontological deposits, such as fossil sponge reefs formed in shallow seas under tropical climate 165 Ma ago, preserved in the marly and calcareous rocks of the Cap Romain cliff (Calvados).Mineralogical depositsOthers protect mineralogical deposits, such as the TM 71 cave (Aude), which houses remarkable concretions (blue aragonites, white stalagmites, etc.) in its karst network.Remarkable rocks and metamorphismFinally, conservation efforts ensure the protection of remarkable rocks: distinctive texture, structure or mineralogy resulting from metamorphism and tectonics. This is the case for the blue schists of the Françoise le Bail national nature reserve on the island of Groix.
Further reading
- Patrimoine géologique nationalnotre-environnement.gouv.fr
Le programme "Patrimoine Géologique National" s'inscrit dans la volonté du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle d'assurer sa mission de conservation du patrimoine naturel, également dans le domaine des Sciences de la Terre.
