En 2025, les Éditions du BRGM publient trois nouveaux guides dans la collection Curiosités géologiques.
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The Curiosités géologiques series
BRGM Éditions aims to make a complex field of research accessible to the general public by explaining the processes of rock formation over periods of geological time, illustrated by examples from field observations.
The Curiosités géologiques series familiarises a wide readership with the geology of different French regions. The guidebooks also include ways of discovering plants, wildlife, architecture and culture in general. All these aspects are tied to specific local environments, often shaped by the history and nature of the subsurface.
Find out below about the latest in this series of 40 guidebooks.
Guide des curiosités géologiques d'Annecy et ses environs.
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Geological curiosities of Annecy and the surrounding area
The Annecy region borders the Alps. The long history of this range can be seen here in the relatively moderate, but steep and aesthetically pleasing relief marked by high Urgonian limestone crags and, of course, featuring the lake itself, formed recently (on a geological time scale!) in the hollow of an ancient glacial valley.
In addition to the ubiquitous relief, the geological history of the Alps is reflected in tectonic structures such as folds in the geological strata, which are often clearly visible in the landscape around Annecy for those who know or learn how to observe them.
Visible faults include the Vuache fault (and its beautiful "mirror" at La Balme de Sillingy). This fault is still active and recently caused an earthquake and some damage in 1996.
In historical times, Urgonian limestone was quarried in the subsurface around Annecy for the construction of what are now heritage buildings. Nowadays, it is mainly cyclists, walkers, potholers, paragliders and kite surfers (not to mention swimmers!) who interact with the geology of the Annecy region, as do the ducks, coots, bearded vultures and ibexes in their own way, frequenting the lake and mountains of Annecy and the surrounding area.
Author: Emmanuel Égal
Price: 19 euros
Guide des curiosités géologiques de la Limagne en Auvergne.
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Geological curiosities of the Limagne region in Auvergne
For the general public, the names Puy-de-Dôme and Clermont-Ferrand conjure up images of the Chaîne des Puys and its volcanoes, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Yet the Clermont-Ferrand region is home to many other little-known geological treasures.
To see them, all you have to do is travel through the Limagne d'Auvergne, a vast north/south oriented geological basin framed by granite-gneiss mountains to the east and ranges of volcanoes to the west.
Far from the crowds, more authentic and untouched by tourist marketing, this mosaic of plains, hillsides, plateaux and valleys has a wide variety of Caenozoic landforms and formations dating from 66 million years ago to the present day, found among the lake or fluvio-lacustrine sediments and among the volcanic rocks.
This guidebook covers these unique landscapes of the Limagne region. Readers can find out about numerous mesas, lava flows and lava lakes brought to a dominant position by erosion, an extraordinary geyser, a source of bitumen flowing through the fields, canyons exposed in red formations reminiscent of sub-equatorial climates, superb stromatolites and many other features that bear witness to a wealth of geological history that is little known to the general public.
Author: Hervé Cubizolle
Price: 19 euros
Guide des curiosités géologiques de l'Essonne.
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Geological curiosities of the Essonne département
Essonne is a geographically and geologically diverse département in the Ile-de-France region to the south of Paris. Its relief is marked by a contrast between agricultural plateaux and numerous valleys. The area is divided into several regions: Hurepoix, the French Gâtinais, Brie and Beauce.
There are outcrops of several types of rock in Essonne, but the Tertiary period is largely dominant, with clays, sands, limestones and sandstones. The nature of these sediments played a major role in the Quaternary period, when the valleys and landscapes took shape. The socio-economic history of the area was quite logically shaped by this natural resource, from which it benefited, enabling the first human groups to settle.
Geology is an inexhaustible source of observations, explaining not only the nature of the subsurface, but also the composition of the landscape and the exceptional wealth of its biodiversity. This guidebook is an invitation to travel and discover our historical and natural heritage in unfamiliar places.
Authors: Patrick de Wever and Jean-Paul Baut
Price: 19 euros
