LES ROCHERS DU SIDOBRE
Granite plateau, a unique site that is now one of the largest granite processing centers in the world.
Striking! This granite plateau of 100 km2, perched at an altitude of 650 m above Castres, offers a unique landscape with its chaos, rivers of rocks, gigantic balls of granite emerging from sandy grounds covered with a varied vegetation. Peyro Clabado, Roque de l'Oie, Rocher tremblant de Sept Faux, Chapeau du Curé, Trois-Fromages, Fauteuil du Diable (Devil's chair)... We must go back 300 million years to find the geological explanation of this surprising landscape. A liquid magma of molten rock was then buried several tens of kilometres deep under an enormous mountain - the Hercynian chain - of which only the Massif Central remains today, including the Montagne Noire and the Sidobre. The magma gradually cooled to form a crystalline rock composed of mica, quartz and feldspar. The Sidobre is thus a 10 km thick granite block with a cracked surface. Rainwater, runoff and drainage water create a perpetual circulation in the soil. By infiltrating the cracks, the water erodes the rock and loosens minerals that break down into sand, forming giant balls. It is the release of these balls by the runoff water that then reveals extraordinary shapes. They can be seen around the villages of Burlats, Lacrouzette, Ferrières, Guior-le-Bez or Saint-Salvy-de-la-Balme. A unique site, the Sidobre plateau is today one of the largest granite transformation centres in the world.
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