66
J. Collina-Girard
Courtin 1994; Collina-Girard 2004). The represented horses, ibex, bison, aurochs,
Saiga antelopes and cervids depict the hills and plains swallowed up during the Last
Glacial Maximum (18,000 B.P.), but also the coastal landscapes (seals and penguins)
which stretched out about fifteen kilometres south of the cave. Archaeology shows
that the exploitation of fish and shell food is at least as old as the Upper Palaeolithic
(Carry-le-Rouet Rockshelter) and continues during the Neolithic (Riou Island sandpit
and excavations in the Butte Saint Charles in Marseilles).
Geological factors determine the main makeup of the coastal and underwater
landscape. Yet these landscapes are also affected by more fluctuating factors such as
wind conditions and marine tides. These atmospheric factors influence the immediate
perception of the observer on a very short timescale (light, hygrometry, cloud cover)
and seasonal and cyclical climatic rhythms also add a temporal touch.
5.4 Wind Conditions
5.4.1 Wind Conditions and the Light of the Landscape
The Marseilles region is influenced by two wind types; the Mistral, from the north
or northwest sector and the southeast or east wind (Fig. 5.14a). These winds blow
all year round with lulls between the 14th of July and the 15th of August, and during
the autumn. The atmosphere of the maritime scenery is directly dependent on these
wind conditions. There is marked opposition between the Mistral landscape with a
short, choppy and violent swell beneath a pastel blue sky and mountain light. This
wind can blow up suddenly, blow out just as suddenly and make way for the much
longer and more regular east swell, beneath a cloudy and storm prone sky. This
wind change is accompanied by variations in the light bathing these terrestrial and
underwater Provencal landscapes.
When the Mistral blows, hygrometry is particularly low and the air is bright like
in the mountains. The sea is capped by short waves topped with white tufts, the sky
is pastel blue and it is bitingly cold. The surface of the sea is azure and the light
penetrates deeply beneath the sea in cold and crystalline water which refracts the
sun’s rays. When the east wind blows, the air is much moister, the sky is greyer and
cloudy with the possibility of stormy showers. The temperature is milder and the
swell is ample. The sea’s surface can take a dark blue, almost black hue. For the
diver, the light is less intense and the more clement water is often deep dark blue
with more filtered sunlight.
5.4.2 Wind Conditions, Geology and Navigation
By a happy coincidence, the coastlines, which are oriented by the directions of
geological fractures, are exactly opposed to the direction of the prevailing winds
J. Collina-Girard
Courtin 1994; Collina-Girard 2004). The represented horses, ibex, bison, aurochs,
Saiga antelopes and cervids depict the hills and plains swallowed up during the Last
Glacial Maximum (18,000 B.P.), but also the coastal landscapes (seals and penguins)
which stretched out about fifteen kilometres south of the cave. Archaeology shows
that the exploitation of fish and shell food is at least as old as the Upper Palaeolithic
(Carry-le-Rouet Rockshelter) and continues during the Neolithic (Riou Island sandpit
and excavations in the Butte Saint Charles in Marseilles).
Geological factors determine the main makeup of the coastal and underwater
landscape. Yet these landscapes are also affected by more fluctuating factors such as
wind conditions and marine tides. These atmospheric factors influence the immediate
perception of the observer on a very short timescale (light, hygrometry, cloud cover)
and seasonal and cyclical climatic rhythms also add a temporal touch.
5.4 Wind Conditions
5.4.1 Wind Conditions and the Light of the Landscape
The Marseilles region is influenced by two wind types; the Mistral, from the north
or northwest sector and the southeast or east wind (Fig. 5.14a). These winds blow
all year round with lulls between the 14th of July and the 15th of August, and during
the autumn. The atmosphere of the maritime scenery is directly dependent on these
wind conditions. There is marked opposition between the Mistral landscape with a
short, choppy and violent swell beneath a pastel blue sky and mountain light. This
wind can blow up suddenly, blow out just as suddenly and make way for the much
longer and more regular east swell, beneath a cloudy and storm prone sky. This
wind change is accompanied by variations in the light bathing these terrestrial and
underwater Provencal landscapes.
When the Mistral blows, hygrometry is particularly low and the air is bright like
in the mountains. The sea is capped by short waves topped with white tufts, the sky
is pastel blue and it is bitingly cold. The surface of the sea is azure and the light
penetrates deeply beneath the sea in cold and crystalline water which refracts the
sun’s rays. When the east wind blows, the air is much moister, the sky is greyer and
cloudy with the possibility of stormy showers. The temperature is milder and the
swell is ample. The sea’s surface can take a dark blue, almost black hue. For the
diver, the light is less intense and the more clement water is often deep dark blue
with more filtered sunlight.
5.4.2 Wind Conditions, Geology and Navigation
By a happy coincidence, the coastlines, which are oriented by the directions of
geological fractures, are exactly opposed to the direction of the prevailing winds