earth science

Géologique du Luberon National Nature Reserve

Géologique du Luberon National Nature Reserve is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Géologique du Luberon National Nature Reserve rather than just read about it. In short: The Luberon Geological National Nature Reserve (RNN90) is a national nature reserve located in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Established in 1987, it occupies 312 hectares (770 acres) and protects 28 scattered geological sites dated from the Cenozoic.

Key takeaways

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Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
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Reproduce the core statement of Géologique du Luberon National Nature Reserve from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Luberon Geological National Nature Reserve (RNN90) is a national nature reserve located in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Established in 1987, it occupies 312 hectares (770 acres) and protects 28 scattered geological sites dated from the Cenozoic.

Administration and legal status The nature reserve was established under a decree of the 16 September 1987. It was established in order to protect 28 geological sites from the Cenozoic era, divided in 4 categories: sites with fossils of vertebrates, insects and plants from the Oligocene, slabs bearing the tracks of mammals from the Oligocene, sites with vertebrates from the Eocene and Miocene, sites with invertebrates from the Miocene and Pliocene. The nature reserve is administered by the Parc naturel régional du Luberon.

Location and sites The domain of the nature reserve spreads over the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Vaucluse departments. It covers roughly 300 ha (740 acres) over 20 communes:

Alpes-de-Haute-Provence : Aubenas-les-Alpes, Céreste, Montfuron, Montjustin, Oppedette, Reillanne, Revest-des-Brousses, Saint-Maime, Vachères et Villeneuve. Vaucluse : Bonnieux, Cabrières-d'Aigues, Caseneuve, Cheval-Blanc, Cucuron, Murs, Saignon, Saint-Martin-de-Castillon, Saint-Saturnin-lès-Apt, Viens. A protected zone of 70,000 hectares (170,000 acres) was placed around those sites by order of the prefect.

Aubenas-les-Alpes The village of Aubenas-les-Alpes was built over an hill of red marl dating from the Oligocene. It contains the bones of large mammals and reptiles (such as crocodiles and turtles). In the vallon de l'Aiguebelle (an ever-flowing stream, even during the dryest droughts), fossils of plants and fishes (Dapalis macrurus) have been uncovered. Both those deposits are classified geological reserves (inside the Luberon Geological National Nature Reserve), and any collection is forbidden. Information panels are placed near the sites. A selection of the unearthed fossils can be seen in the Musée de Vachères, at the Maison du Parc Naturel Régional du Luberon, at Apt in Vaucluse, and at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris.

Céreste

50 millions of years ago, at the beginning of the Eocene, the Apt and Céreste basins were covered by a vast inner lake. A tropical climate had created a rich fauna and flora, fossilized in thin plates of schistous limestone up to the Oligocene. Those various fossils correspond to a riverine flora and fishes, molluscs and insects. Easy access to the fossil sites allowed their pillage, to the degree that their removal appeared almost organized. The actions of the Parc naturel régional du Luberon allowed the fossils at the site to diminish by 95%. The commune of Céreste is today inside the perimeter of the Luberon Geological National Nature Reserve, due to the proximity with exceptional fossil sites.

Reillanne During the 1950s, numerous fossil tracks were identified in Reillanne and around the Pas d'Ânes locality. Traditionally considered to be donkey tracks, it was discovered that the footprints were made by Anchitherium, an extinct genus of Equidae who lived roughly 20 millions of years ago.

Murs, Vaucluse

The commune of Murs contains a locality known as Le Puy, part of the Luberon Geological National Nature Reserve. This zone is protected and digging and collecting are strictly forbidden by law. It bears marl limestones of continental facies from the Cenozoic era (Rupelian). It has provided fossils of fishes, and of the leaves and cuticles of plants.

Saignon Located at Le Carlet, to the southeast of Saignon's train station, is the Négri quarry. In 1981, an examination of the quarry's surface limestone layer revealed preserved fossil tracks. Thousands of tracks can be seen across the surface of what was a marshy soil dating back from the Oligocene. Traces of Palaeotherium magnum, Anchilophus radegondensis, Anoplotherium commune and A. latipes, Xiphodon gracile, Pterodon spp. and Hyanodon spp. were identified, as well as unique forms and tracks of large birds.

Viens At Viens, Vaucluse, Dalle de Viens ('slabs of Viens') contain fossilized tracksites of Oligocene mammals.

Notes

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Géologique du Luberon National Nature Reserve

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Géologique du Luberon National Nature Reserve claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Géologique du Luberon National Nature Reserve before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Géologique du Luberon National Nature Reserve ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Géologique du Luberon National Nature Reserve

In research: Géologique du Luberon National Nature Reserve appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Géologique du Luberon National Nature Reserve in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Géologique du Luberon National Nature Reserve is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Cenozoic Europe, Fossiliferous stratigraphic units of Europe, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Géologique du Luberon National Nature Reserve outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Géologique du Luberon National Nature Reserve in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Géologique du Luberon National Nature Reserve means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
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Frequently asked questions

What is Géologique du Luberon National Nature Reserve in simple terms?

Why does Géologique du Luberon National Nature Reserve matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Géologique du Luberon National Nature Reserve?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Géologique du Luberon National Nature Reserve.