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This 21 km hike takes you to the heart of the Côtes massif which looks like a whale's back made of Cretaceous marine limestone (n3c) cut in two by the faults of the Oligocene and Miocene collapse ditch "La Roque d'Anthéron-Lambesc" (Graben).
"What was at the bottom is now at the top!"
This basin, which was at the bottom during the Oligocene (deposit g1) then the Miocene (marine deposit M1), was raised during the alpine structuring of the massif.
The massif is structured by numerous faults that favour alteration (red formations) and probably manage a complex underground water network: the perennial springs are testimony to this. There are a few bauxitic pockets in the massif, the most beautiful of which is the one above Silvacane Abbey.
1.- Oligocene to flint argilites
2.- Fossil molasse miocene
3.- Oligocene ribbed argilites
4.- Pleated lacustrine limestone
5.- Fossil Cretaceous Limestone
6.- Castellas Rock (Cretaceous)
7.- Fault shifting the landscape (opposite, then breaches in the valley)
8.- Sources of Silvacane (faults crossing)
9.- Bauxite’s career (pocket)
Not to be missed...
The exceptional site of Silvacane: its springs, the bauxite pocket (see geological map), without forgetting the heritage of the abbey...
