Cover of the guide.
© BRGM
Much appreciated for the unique appeal of its islands, its distinctive gulf and the various legends concerning its hinterland, the Morbihan region combines the assets of both land and sea and boasts a wide variety of landscapes. This rich natural heritage is the result of the area's extraordinary geological history which, over millions of years, saw the creation of an ocean and the development of a mountain range, which subsequently eroded away.
Today, the marks of this vanished ocean and the remains of the mountain range are still visible around the département, which has so many remarkable sites that this guide invites you to discover.
The signs of an extremely long geological history
Whether situated along the coast or in the countryside, the 21 geological sites described in the book give an insight into the distant past of the Morbihan region. The name of the département means "the little sea" in Breton, in reference to its unique gulf, which was formed by rising sea levels over the last few millennia.
The guide is an excellent tool to help promote and protect the area's geological heritage. It was written by three geologists from the region:
- Pierrick GRAVIOU has a PhD in geology and is an engineer at BRGM. He has already published around fifteen books devoted to Earth sciences and aimed specifically at the general public, including four guides on Brittany, his home region.
- Romain AUGIER is a lecturer at the Institut des Sciences de la Terre in Orléans. He produced the geological map of the Vannes-Saint-Gildas-de-Rhuys (Morbihan) area, which he knows like the back of his hand.
- Elisabeth LE GOFF was born in the Morbihan region. She has a PhD in geology and is an engineer at BRGM. She has conducted surveys for several geological maps in Brittany.
"Curiosités géologiques du Morbihan" (Geological curiosities of Morbihan) by Pierrick Graviou, Romain Augier and Elisabeth Le Goff.
Available from Éditions du BRGM.
2020 - 120 pages - €19
A collection of 26 books
This book further enriches the Geological Curiosities collection published by the French National Geological Survey (Éditions du BRGM).
The Éditions du BRGM aim to make a complex field of research accessible to the general public by explaining the processes of rock formation over geological time periods, supported by examples from the field.
The Geological Curiosities collection opens up the geology of different French regions to a wide audience. The books also present trails and circuits for discovering plants, wildlife, architecture and culture in general. All these different aspects are linked to specific local environments, which are often shaped by the history and nature of the subsurface.
