The Volcanic Chaîne des Puys: A Unique Collection of Simple and Compound Monogenetic Edifices

Abstract

The volcanic range Chaîne des Puys, located in the French Massif central and last erupted 7,000 years ago, is potentially active. About 80 large monogenetic volcanoes form an alignment that parallels the Limagne fault, one of the major faults of the Western European Rift. The range shows a wide spectrum of volcano types: cinder cones, tuff rings, maars and domes, reflecting magmas from basalts to trachytes. Although some edifices and associated lava fields are known to be monogenetic, the simplicity of the features belies the complexity of compound cones often nested in tuff rings or maars, twin domes and maars overlapping cones. The volcanic range has been built up over 90,000 years, including two periods of heightened activity between 45,000 and 25,000 years and between 15,000 and 8,500 years. Volcanological research began as early as 1751 in the Chaîne des Puys, with major geological debates during the nineteenth century. A new impetus has been recently given to scientific research on the volcanic range. The Chaîne des Puys is renowned for its pedagogical interest and is visited by numerous students and teachers from France and abroad. Because the volcanic edifices have been used for grazing as far back as the Neolithic period and more intensively since the Roman Empire, they have been heavily deforested and eroded. The Chaîne des Puys became one of the French regional natural parks in 1977 and it has been protected ever since. Today a new incentive for protection is due to the candidacy of the volcanic range and the Limagne fault to the UNESCO World Heritage.