56
J. Collina-Girard
Fig. 5.3 Morgiou Calanque carved into Urgonian limestones. (© J. Collina-Girard, All rights
reserved)
and Cap Sicié, divers from the area of Ciotat, at the foot of the Bec de l’Aigle and
Verte Island, explore ruin-shaped landscapes carved in resistant Upper Cretaceous
conglomerates. Further to the west, Jurassic and Cretaceous compact limestone
dominates the Marseilles coast. On the Blue Coast, around Carry-le-Rouet, Miocene
“molasses” outcrop with rounded shapes organized in rock bars separated by deep
crevices, popular among underwater hunters.
The underwater karstic landscapes of “limestone Provence”, which are very conducive to the fixing of fauna, contrast with the “crystalline Provence” landscapes,
where metamorphic and siliceous rocks are more resistant to chemical corrosion but
less favourable to biological incrustation. Two national parks on either side of Cap
Sicié present these two distinct types of underwater landscapes perfectly: the Porquerolles islands and Port-Cros Park, representative of the “crystalline Provence”
seabeds, and the future Calanques National Park between Marseilles and Cassis, a
typical example of a “limestone Provence” underwater landscape.
5.1.1 “Urgonian” Limestone Karstic Landscapes
The underwater landscapes of the future Calanques National Park are mainly a continuation of the white compact Lower Cretaceous limestones (“Urgonian” facies). The
Calanques landscapes sway between the blue Mistral swept sky and the immaculate
white of the “Urgonian” limestones (Fig. 5.3). These rocks are bioclastic limestones
J. Collina-Girard
Fig. 5.3 Morgiou Calanque carved into Urgonian limestones. (© J. Collina-Girard, All rights
reserved)
and Cap Sicié, divers from the area of Ciotat, at the foot of the Bec de l’Aigle and
Verte Island, explore ruin-shaped landscapes carved in resistant Upper Cretaceous
conglomerates. Further to the west, Jurassic and Cretaceous compact limestone
dominates the Marseilles coast. On the Blue Coast, around Carry-le-Rouet, Miocene
“molasses” outcrop with rounded shapes organized in rock bars separated by deep
crevices, popular among underwater hunters.
The underwater karstic landscapes of “limestone Provence”, which are very conducive to the fixing of fauna, contrast with the “crystalline Provence” landscapes,
where metamorphic and siliceous rocks are more resistant to chemical corrosion but
less favourable to biological incrustation. Two national parks on either side of Cap
Sicié present these two distinct types of underwater landscapes perfectly: the Porquerolles islands and Port-Cros Park, representative of the “crystalline Provence”
seabeds, and the future Calanques National Park between Marseilles and Cassis, a
typical example of a “limestone Provence” underwater landscape.
5.1.1 “Urgonian” Limestone Karstic Landscapes
The underwater landscapes of the future Calanques National Park are mainly a continuation of the white compact Lower Cretaceous limestones (“Urgonian” facies). The
Calanques landscapes sway between the blue Mistral swept sky and the immaculate
white of the “Urgonian” limestones (Fig. 5.3). These rocks are bioclastic limestones