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88-716: Its source is in the southwestern part of the Alps , in the Montgenèvre ski resort near Briançon ; it flows southwest through the following departments and cities: The Durance's largest tributary is the Verdon . The Durance itself is a tributary of the Rhône and flows into the Rhône near Avignon . The Durance is the second longest (after the Saône) of the tributaries of the Rhône and

176-538: A bridge at Sisteron was recorded. At other places there were ferries, in particular at Pertuis , whose name is based on it ferry. Although it was difficult to cross, except in Sisteron, the Durance was nevertheless navigable. The bas-reliefs at Cabrières-d'Aigues depict the river being used for the transport of various liquid food products such as wine and olive oil. Gallo-Romans used the towpaths ( helciarii ) and

264-611: A crescent shaped geographic feature of central Europe that ranges in an 800 km (500 mi) arc (curved line) from east to west and is 200 km (120 mi) in width. The mean height of the mountain peaks is 2.5 km (1.6 mi). The range stretches from the Mediterranean Sea north above the Po basin, extending through France from Grenoble , and stretching eastward through mid and southern Switzerland. The range continues onward toward Vienna , Austria, and southeast to

352-600: A few kilometres to the south of Oraison . The Verdon flows into the Durance near Cadarache . The valley widens still further into an alluvial plain several kilometres wide (5 kilometres (3.1 mi) near Manosque ). Here the river was diverted for the development of modern agriculture and the construction of the A51 motorway. There are several dams along the middle part of the Durance. In addition to main dam at Serre-Ponçon, there are dams at Espinasses , Sisteron, L'Escale and Cadarache. There are small canals whose primary purpose

440-598: A flow as low as 18 cubic metres per second (640 cu ft/s) and a maximum flood of 1,700 cubic metres per second (60,000 cu ft/s) (value recorded in 1957). At the confluence with the Rhône, the average natural flow of the Durance is approximately 190 cubic metres per second (6,700 cu ft/s), with a high annual variability. It can vary between 40 cubic metres per second (1,400 cu ft/s) (the most severe low water levels) and 6,000 cubic metres per second (210,000 cu ft/s) in catastrophic historic floods, levels reached in 1843, 1882 and 1886. At

528-743: A major commercial and military road between Western Europe and Italy. The pass was crossed by many troops on their way to the Italian peninsula. From Constantine I , Pepin the Short and Charlemagne to Henry IV , Napoléon and more recently the German Gebirgsjägers during World War II . Now the pass has been supplanted by the Fréjus Highway Tunnel (opened 1980) and Rail Tunnel (opened 1871). The Saint Gotthard Pass crosses from Central Switzerland to Ticino ; in 1882

616-708: A man was in 1788; the first ascent by a woman was in 1808. By the mid-1850s Swiss mountaineers had ascended most of the peaks and were eagerly sought as mountain guides. Edward Whymper reached the top of the Matterhorn in 1865 (after seven attempts), and in 1938 the last of the six great north faces of the Alps was climbed with the first ascent of the Eiger Nordwand (north face of the Eiger). Important geological concepts were established as naturalists began studying

704-572: A permanent laboratory exists inside a glacier under the Jungfraujoch , devoted exclusively to the study of Alpine glaciers. Ubaye The Ubaye ( French pronunciation: [ybaj] ; Occitan : Ubaia ) is a river of southeastern France . It is 83 kilometres (52 mi) long and flows through the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department. Its drainage basin is 1,009 km (390 sq mi). Its rises at

792-560: A river. This runs near to Montgenèvre and then flows into the larger Clarée river, and then passes through Briançon before the Guisane joins it. It then continues south combining with the Gyronde  — the Écrins glacial stream  — at L'Argentière-la-Bessée . The confluence with the Guil occurs below Guillestre and Mont-Dauphin . The Durance then flows south-south-west and flows into

880-604: A tunnel 1.6 km (1 mi) long was built along the route of the pass in the mid-19th century. With a summit of 2,469 m (8,100 ft), the Great St Bernard Pass is one of the highest in the Alps, crossing the Italian-Swiss border east of the Pennine Alps along the flanks of Mont Blanc. The pass was used by Napoleon Bonaparte to cross 40,000 troops in 1800. The Mont Cenis pass has been

968-473: A very important part in the history of Provence , and largely contributed to the economic growth and population of the Marseilles area, after having been an obstacle for centuries. From Antiquity until the 19th century, the Durance was famous for the difficulty of crossing it, its massive floods and an inconstant flow. The width of its bed, the force and depth of its current, and the changes of course after

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1056-646: Is sedimentary rock formed during mountain building. The Alpine orogeny occurred in ongoing cycles through to the Paleogene causing differences in folded structures, with a late-stage orogeny causing the development of the Jura Mountains . A series of tectonic events in the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods caused different paleogeographic regions. The Alps are subdivided by different lithology (rock composition) and nappe structures according to

1144-688: Is affected by the Mediterranean climate: flooding after autumnal rains, with low water levels in summer. Just before the narrow gap in the mountains at Sisteron, the Durance joins Buëch and the Sasse  [ fr ] . Water also flows in from the EDF Canal . Beyond Sisteron further rivers and streams join the Durance: Jabron, Vançon, Bléone near Les Mées and from the Asse (river)

1232-543: Is an old and important trade route, whereas the valleys of the Clarée and Guisane are effectively dead ends. The Durance is 305 kilometres (190 mi) long from its source at the foot of Sommet des Anges, at 2,390 metres (7,840 ft) high, above Montgenèvre , to its confluence with the Rhône. However, a longer route is traced by the Clarée-Durance system with a length of 325 kilometres (202 mi). Its descent

1320-464: Is known as " capricious ", alternating between its feared flash floods (it was called the third plague of Provence) and its low water levels. The upper Durance is an alpine river with a flow ranging from 18 to 197 cubic metres per second (640 to 6,960 cu ft/s). Its total drainage area is 14,225 square kilometres (5,492 sq mi). At the confluence with Ubaye , salmon used to thrive, and trout were found up as far as Sisteron, before

1408-503: Is of continental European origin, above which are stacked marine sediment nappes, topped off by nappes derived from the African plate. The Matterhorn is an example of the ongoing orogeny and shows evidence of great folding. The tip of the mountain consists of gneisses from the African plate; the base of the peak, below the glaciated area, consists of European basement rock. The sequence of Tethyan marine sediments and their oceanic basement

1496-412: Is only at the time of high flows that the water not diverted uses the river's natural channel. Along the river there are many habitats of both regional and European importance that are naturally governed by the varying flow of the river. These habitats include both mountain and Mediterranean types. The river with its valley is an important biological corridor, within the national green infrastructure and

1584-624: Is sandwiched between rock derived from the African and European plates. The core regions of the Alpine orogenic belt have been folded and fractured in such a manner that erosion produced the characteristic steep vertical peaks of the Swiss Alps that rise seemingly straight out of the foreland areas. Peaks such as Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn, and high peaks in the Pennine Alps, the Briançonnais, and Hohe Tauern consist of layers of rock from

1672-599: Is the Canal Saint-Julien  [ fr ] , dug in 1171 by the Marquis de Forbin. It was followed by the Adam de Craponne canal, 50 kilometres (31 mi) long, dug in nine months in 1554 from Silvacane  [ fr ] to Arles ), the canal des Alpilles , the canal de Marseille , the canal de Carpentras  [ fr ] , the canal de Manosque  [ fr ] , the canal de Ventavon , and

1760-581: Is the highest mountain in the Alps. The Alpine region area contains 128 peaks higher than 4,000 m (13,000 ft) . The altitude and size of the range affect the climate in Europe; in the mountains, precipitation levels vary greatly and climatic conditions consist of distinct zones. Wildlife such as ibex live in the higher peaks to elevations of 3,400 m (11,155 ft), and plants such as edelweiss grow in rocky areas in lower elevations as well as in higher elevations. Evidence of human habitation in

1848-527: Is to draw water from the river into the EDF Canal which in turn feeds the hydroelectric power stations. Some of the water diverted by the dams is used for irrigation. The valley narrows for a few kilometres until the water gap at Mirabeau, at a depth of 200 metres (660 ft), then widens again into an even broader plain until the confluence with the Rhône south of Avignon . Its direction changes from southerly to westerly then northwesterly, aligning with

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1936-499: Is underground. The Durance provides today two-thirds of the water for the city of Marseilles. In 1955, the law defined the EDF Durance-Verdon project had three objectives: Over 40 years, this project required the construction of 23 dams and water extraction points starting upstream of Claux sur Argentiere down to Mallemort and the supply of 33 hydroelectric power stations and several control stations. This programme

2024-669: Is unusually rapid at 81 m/km (165 ft/mi) in its first 12 km (7.5 mi), then 15 m/km (30 ft/mi) to its confluence with the Gyronde  [ fr ] , and then still nearly 8 m/km (16 ft/mi) to the confluence with the Ubaye. This descent stays relatively steep after this confluence, then shallows to approximately 0.33% in its middle course (to the Mirabeau bridge), then 0.24% in its lower course. For comparison, at approximately 100 kilometres (62 mi) from its source,

2112-470: Is very low. The annual maximum flow generally occurs in May or June, but the most violent flash floods occur in autumn. The lowest water levels occur in winter in the upper valley, and in summer in the middle and lower part of the river. The river is famous historically for its unstable course and violent floods. In the 12th century the Durance had swept away the town of Rama (between Briançon and Embrun, with

2200-683: The Adriatic and Vienna at the beginning of the Pannonian Basin . The mountains were formed over tens of millions of years as the African and Eurasian tectonic plates collided. Extreme shortening caused by the event resulted in marine sedimentary rocks rising by thrusting and folding into high mountain peaks such as Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn . Mont Blanc spans the French–Italian border, and at 4,809 m (15,778 ft)

2288-534: The Adriatic Sea and Slovenia . To the south it dips into northern Italy and to the north extends to the southern border of Bavaria in Germany. In areas like Chiasso , Switzerland, and Allgäu , Bavaria, the demarcation between the mountain range and the flatlands are clear; in other places such as Geneva , the demarcation is less clear. The Alps are found in the following countries: Austria (28.7% of

2376-671: The Cavares ( Cavaillon ) and the Salyes ( Bouches-du-Rhône ). The valley of the Durance is a route through the Alps, used by the Via Domitia . A statue of Janus was erected at Montgenèvre, the only passage between Cisalpine Gaul and Gallia Narbonensis Strabon (1st century) reported that a ferry was established in Cavaillon, The great Roman way from Spain to Italy only crossed the Durance at Cavaillon and Sisteron. The existence of

2464-619: The Col de Longet , in the Cottian Alps on the border with Italy . It flows generally southwest, through Saint-Paul-sur-Ubaye , Jausiers and Barcelonnette . It flows into the Lac de Serre-Ponçon (which is fed and drained by the Durance ) near La Bréole . This Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur geography article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article related to

2552-915: The Colle della Maddalena , to the north. Upon reaching the Swiss border, the line of the main chain heads approximately east-northeast, a heading it follows until its end near Vienna. The northeast end of the Alpine arc, directly on the Danube , which flows into the Black Sea, is the Leopoldsberg near Vienna. In contrast, the southeastern part of the Alps ends on the Adriatic Sea in the area around Trieste towards Duino and Barcola . The Alps have been crossed for war and commerce, and by pilgrims, students and tourists. Crossing routes by road, train, or foot are known as passes , and usually consist of depressions in

2640-511: The Gotthard Base Tunnel , was opened, which connects Erstfeld in canton of Uri with Bodio in canton of Ticino by two single tubes of 57.1 km (35.5 mi). It is the first tunnel that traverses the Alps on a flat route. From 11 December 2016, it has been part of the regular railway timetable and used hourly as standard ride between Basel / Lucerne / Zürich and Bellinzona / Lugano / Milan . The highest pass in

2728-500: The Isère is at 330 metres (1,080 ft) altitude and the Durance at 700 metres (2,300 ft), which contributes partially to its fast-flowing nature, including in the lower part of the river. It drops 1,847 metres (6,060 ft) from its source to Mirabeau and approximately 2,090 metres (6,860 ft) from its source to the confluence with the Rhône . The river only runs through the towns of Briançon and Sisteron  — built where

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2816-456: The Lac de Serre-Ponçon just downstream of Embrun . The confluence with the Ubaye was flooded as the lake filled. The middle part of the Durance runs through a landscape that changes as the valley increasingly widens. The river itself becomes steeply banked by terraces , and carves a channel, sometimes a few metres deep, sometimes tens of metres deep. In its middle and lower reaches the Durance

2904-607: The Oxford English Dictionary , the Latin Alpes might derive from a pre-Indo-European word * alb "hill"; "Albania" is a related derivation. Albania, a name not native to the region known as the country of Albania , has been used as a name for several mountainous areas across Europe. In Roman times , "Albania" was a name for the eastern Caucasus , while in the English languages "Albania" (or "Albany")

2992-764: The Pangaean supercontinent consisted of a single tectonic plate ; it broke into separate plates during the Mesozoic Era and the Tethys sea developed between Laurasia and Gondwana during the Jurassic Period. The Tethys was later squeezed between colliding plates causing the formation of mountain ranges called the Alpide belt , from Gibraltar through the Himalayas to Indonesia —a process that began at

3080-466: The Romanticists , followed by the golden age of alpinism as mountaineers began to ascend the peaks of the Alps. The Alpine region has a strong cultural identity. Traditional practices such as farming, cheesemaking, and woodworking still thrive in Alpine villages. However, the tourist industry began to grow early in the 20th century and expanded significantly after World War II, eventually becoming

3168-587: The Seine flooding of 1910 was estimated at approximately 2,400 cubic metres per second (85,000 cu ft/s). Even lesser floods were devastating. The flood of 31 May and 1 June 1877 swept away the bridge of Tallard . In the 20th century, the floods were less frequent and violent thanks to the dams and the re-afforestation in the Durance basin, but there were still serious floods in 1957 and 1994 with maxima measured at Mirabeau and at Sisteron of 2,800 cubic metres per second (99,000 cu ft/s); and this volume

3256-736: The Simplon Pass , and the Stelvio Pass . Crossing the Italian-Austrian border, the Brenner Pass separates the Ötztal Alps and Zillertal Alps and has been in use as a trading route since the 14th century. The lowest of the Alpine passes at 985 m (3,232 ft), the Semmering crosses from Lower Austria to Styria ; since the 12th century when a hospice was built there, it has seen continuous use. A railroad with

3344-687: The Western Alps : Dora in Italy, Dranse in Haute-Savoie , and the Drôme in south-eastern France. All these rivers have their sources in mountains, and are fast-running. The Durance retains its name rather than either the Clarée or Guisane , even though the latter two are longer than the Durance when they each merge. The Durance is better known than the other two rivers because the Durance valley

3432-429: The 12th to the 19th century, the river was used for floating timber downstream, in particular by the monks of Boscodon Abbey  [ fr ] , who were given the privilege in 1191 to use the river.) The timber was used in the towns of the southern plains and in the shipyards. Other goods were transported by the river, including salt , those these were subject to ten tolls along the 300 kilometres (190 mi) of

3520-563: The 15 km-long (9.3 mi) Saint Gotthard Railway Tunnel was opened connecting Lucerne in Switzerland, with Milan in Italy. 98 years later followed Gotthard Road Tunnel (16.9 km (10.5 mi) long) connecting the A2 motorway in Göschenen on the north side with Airolo on the south side, exactly like the railway tunnel. On 1 June 2016 the world's longest railway tunnel,

3608-617: The 16th century. Between 1832 and 1890, the Durance had 188 floods of more than 3 metres (10 ft) (measured at the Mirabeau Bridge). The flood of 1843 carried away several newly built suspension bridges: the 1829 bridge at Remollon , the 1835 bridge at Mirabeau, the unfinished bridge at Manosque and the 1838 bridge at Les Mées. The flood of 1872 also swept away the 1847 bridge at Mallemort . The catastrophic floods of 1843, 1856, 1886 attained 5,000 to 6,000 cubic metres per second (180,000 to 210,000 cu ft/s) For comparison,

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3696-664: The 20th century Robert Parker wrote a well-known work about the rock crystals of the Swiss Alps; at the same period a commission was established to control and standardize the naming of Alpine minerals. In the Miocene Epoch the mountains underwent severe erosion because of glaciation, which was noted in the mid-19th century by naturalist Louis Agassiz who presented a paper proclaiming the Alps were covered in ice at various intervals—a theory he formed when studying rocks near his Neuchâtel home which he believed originated to

3784-420: The 29 "four-thousanders" with at least 300 m (984 ft) of prominence. While Mont Blanc was first climbed in 1786 and the Jungfrau in 1811, most of the Alpine four-thousanders were climbed during the second half of the 19th century, notably Piz Bernina (1850), the Dom (1858), the Grand Combin (1859), the Weisshorn (1861) and the Barre des Écrins (1864); the ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865 marked

3872-430: The Alpine region. The cinnabar deposits in Slovenia are a notable source of cinnabar pigments. Alpine crystals have been studied and collected for hundreds of years and began to be classified in the 18th century. Leonhard Euler studied the shapes of crystals, and by the 19th-century crystal hunting was common in Alpine regions. David Friedrich Wiser amassed a collection of 8000 crystals that he studied and documented. In

3960-488: The Alps are difficult to quantify and likely to vary significantly in space and time. The Alps are a source of minerals that have been mined for thousands of years. In the 8th to 6th centuries, BC during the Hallstatt culture , Celtic tribes mined copper; later the Romans mined gold for coins in the Bad Gastein area. Erzberg in Styria furnishes high-quality iron ore for the steel industry. Crystals, such as cinnabar , amethyst , and quartz , are found throughout much of

4048-536: The Alps goes back to the Palaeolithic era. A mummified man ("Ötzi") , determined to be 5,000 years old, was discovered on a glacier at the Austrian–Italian border in 1991. By the 6th century BC, the Celtic La Tène culture was well established. Hannibal notably crossed the Alps with a herd of elephants, and the Romans had settlements in the region. In 1800, Napoleon crossed one of the mountain passes with an army of 40,000. The 18th and 19th centuries saw an influx of naturalists, writers, and artists, in particular,

4136-434: The Austroalpine peaks underwent an event in the Cretaceous Period, the two areas show distinct differences in nappe formations. Flysch deposits in the Southern Alps of Lombardy probably occurred in the Cretaceous or later. Peaks in France, Italy and Switzerland lie in the "Houillière zone", which consists of basement with sediments from the Mesozoic Era. High "massifs" with external sedimentary cover are more common in

4224-405: The Durance flowed directly into the Mediterranean. During the Riss glaciation , the source of the Durance was at Sisteron, where the icecap finished. As the ice-cap receded, the Durance course changed towards the west, between Luberon and Alpilles, and flowed into the Rhône. In pre-Roman times, the Durance was the border between various Celto-Ligurian people established along its course, such as

4312-402: The Eastern and South-Western Alps. The underlying mechanisms that jointly drive the present-day uplift pattern are the isostatic rebound due to the melting of the last glacial maximum ice-cap or long-term erosion, detachment of the Western Alpine subducting slab, mantle convection as well as ongoing horizontal convergence between Africa and Europe, but their relative contributions to the uplift of

4400-462: The Greek goddess Alphito , whose name is related to alphita , the "white flour"; alphos , a dull white leprosy; and finally the Proto-Indo-European word *albʰós . Similarly, the river god Alpheus is also supposed to derive from the Greek alphos and means whitish. In his commentary on the Aeneid of Virgil , the late fourth-century grammarian Maurus Servius Honoratus says that all high mountains are called Alpes by Celts. According to

4488-436: The Pan-European ecological network . Consequently, it is classified as a Natura 2000 protected area. Currently there are between 150 and 200 species of benthic macroinvertebrates , but with few plant species (due to the greatly changing flow of the river). Water quality is considered good in the higher valley, in spite of the number of dams, which deprive the Durance of the power needed to carry sediment away. This quality

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4576-481: The Western Alps and were affected by Neogene Period thin-skinned thrusting whereas the Eastern Alps have comparatively few high peaked massifs. Similarly the peaks in eastern Switzerland extending to western Austria (Helvetic nappes) consist of thin-skinned sedimentary folding that detached from former basement rock. In simple terms, the structure of the Alps consists of layers of rock of European, African, and oceanic (Tethyan) origin. The bottom nappe structure

4664-525: The alps is the Col de l'Iseran in Savoy (France) at 2,770 m (9,088 ft), followed by the Stelvio Pass in northern Italy at 2,756 m (9,042 ft); the road was built in the 1820s. The Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme (UIAA) has defined a list of 82 "official" Alpine summits that reach at least 4,000 m (13,123 ft). The list includes not only mountains, but also subpeaks with little prominence that are considered important mountaineering objectives. Below are listed

4752-427: The banks are very steep — the other towns are built on slopes close to the river: The Durance catchment area extends to three other departments: Var , Drôme and Alpes-Maritimes . The Durance is the longest river in Metropolitan France without a department named after it. The source of La Durance is on the northern slope of the Sommet des Anges  [ fr ] , where the first small streams combine into

4840-420: The canal is 10 cubic metres per second (350 cu ft/s) with the slope of 0.36 metres per kilometre (1.9 ft/mi). The width across the surface of the canal is 9.4 metres (31 ft), and 3 metres (9.8 ft) at its base. The water was first abstracted near the bridge of Pertuis , at an elevation of 185 metres (607 ft), 50 kilometres (31 mi) from Marseilles. From there the canal diverges to

4928-744: The central and western portions. The variances in nomenclature in the region spanned by the Alps make classification of the mountains and subregions difficult, but a general classification is that of the Eastern Alps and Western Alps with the divide between the two occurring in eastern Switzerland according to geologist Stefan Schmid, near the Splügen Pass . The highest peaks of the Western Alps and Eastern Alps, respectively, are Mont Blanc, at 4,810 m (15,780 ft), and Piz Bernina , at 4,049 m (13,284 ft). The second-highest major peaks are Monte Rosa , at 4,634 m (15,203 ft), and Ortler , at 3,905 m (12,810 ft), respectively. A series of lower mountain ranges run parallel to

5016-411: The confluence of Biaisse) . These increased in number and force from the second half of the 16th century, though lessened in the 20th century. The period of increased flooding was not only due to the cooling starting from the 14th and until the 19th century (with increased rain and snowfall), but also because the major deforestation of the slopes of the mountains of the basin of the Durance, starting from

5104-462: The crossroads at Sisteron, at the place called 'Le Bourguet'. In the vicinity of L'Escale a port existed before the Roman conquest, but was developed during the 1st century BC, and was prosperous until the Crisis of the 3rd Century , before recovering its economic activity until the beginning of the 5th century. In the Middle Ages, the county of Forcalquier stretched all along the Durance, from Cavaillon to La Roche-de-Rame , close to Embrun . From

5192-764: The dams were built, but there was probably once a greater diversity. For some families of birds the number of individuals also increased. There are approximately 75 species of mammals in the Durance catchment area, including: Eurasian beaver , southwestern water vole , Eurasian water shrew , many species of bat (barbastelle ( Barbastella barbastellus , large murine ( Myotis myotis ), large rhinolophe ( Rhinolophus ferrumequinum ), minioptère of Schreibers ( Miniopterus schreibersi ), small murine ( Myotis blythii ), small rhinolophe ( Rhinolophus hipposideros ), vespertilion with indented ears ( Myotis emarginatus ), and vespertilion of Capaccini ( Myotis capaccinii )). invasive are becoming more problematic including coypu and

5280-465: The development of the river. Later it becomes a Mediterranean river with the characteristic morphology. The sources of the water are a combination of melting snow and the drainage of rain from the surrounding hills and plateaux which have a Mediterranean climate . The latter's tributaries bring rain water mainly in spring, autumn and winter but little during the summer. At Serre-Ponçon, its basin of 3,600 square kilometres (1,400 sq mi) can create

5368-424: The dominant industry by the end of the century. The Winter Olympic Games have been hosted in the Swiss, French, Italian, Austrian and German Alps. As of 2010, the region is home to 14 million people and has 120 million annual visitors. The English word Alps comes from the Latin Alpes . The Latin word Alpes could possibly come from the adjective albus ("white"), or could possibly come from

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5456-496: The drought of 1921) i.e. a ratio of 1:133 between minimum and maximum. Three types of islands are formed in the bed of the Durance: Hautes-Alpes : Alpes-de-Haute-Provence : Between the Vaucluse and the Bouches-du-Rhône : Dams have been built since the Middle Ages to prevent flooding. At first they were often boxes of wood filled up of stones, but these do not resist the floods for long. Dams have also long been used for irrigation. The first known irrigation canal

5544-404: The end of the Mesozoic and continues into the present. The formation of the Alps was a segment of this orogenic process, caused by the collision between the African and the Eurasian plates that began in the late Cretaceous Period. Under extreme compressive stresses and pressure, marine sedimentary rocks were uplifted, forming characteristic recumbent folds , and thrust faults . As

5632-495: The end of the golden age of alpinism . Karl Blodig (1859–1956) was among the first to successfully climb all the major 4,000 m peaks. He completed his series of ascents in 1911. Many of the big Alpine three-thousanders were climbed in the early 19th century, notably the Grossglockner (1800) and the Ortler (1804), although some of them were climbed only much later, such at Mont Pelvoux (1848), Monte Viso (1861) and La Meije (1877). The first British Mont Blanc ascent by

5720-510: The floods hindered crossing by ford. The only durable fords are those of Mirabeau and Pertuis, obviously unusable in periods of floods. The changes in the flow also limited river navigation (in spite of size of the river in periods with a high flow. It sometimes needed several ferries to cross the various arms or channels. The unstable and sometimes steep banks prevented easy access to ferries. In more recent times even suspension bridges often had to be re-built after floods. Twelve million years ago,

5808-481: The hundreds of other smaller ones, totalling 540 kilometres (340 mi) dug between the end of the 16th century and the end of the 19th century. From 1839 to 1854, the engineer Franz Mayor de Montricher built a canal to supply the city of Marseille with drinking water. It is 80 kilometres (50 mi) long with 17 kilometres (11 mi) underground. The canal is made out of concrete, and the aqueducts out of stone or stone and brick. The volume of water flowing through

5896-407: The main chain of the Alps, including the French Prealps in France and the Jura Mountains in Switzerland and France. The secondary chain of the Alps follows the watershed from the Mediterranean Sea to the Wienerwald , passing over many of the highest and most well-known peaks in the Alps. From the Colle di Cadibona to Col de Tende it runs westwards, before turning to the northwest and then, near

5984-419: The mountains in which a valley leads from the plains and hilly pre-mountainous zones. In the medieval period hospices were established by religious orders at the summits of many of the main passes. The most important passes are the Col de l'Iseran (the highest), the Col Agnel , the Brenner Pass , the Mont-Cenis , the Great St. Bernard Pass , the Col de Tende , the Gotthard Pass , the Semmering Pass ,

6072-407: The orogenic events that affected them. The geological subdivision differentiates the Western, Eastern Alps, and Southern Alps: the Helveticum in the north, the Penninicum and Austroalpine system in the centre and, south of the Periadriatic Seam, the Southern Alpine system . According to geologist Stefan Schmid, because the Western Alps underwent a metamorphic event in the Cenozoic Era while

6160-406: The outlet into the Lac de Serre-Ponçon, the medium flow is 81 cubic metres per second (2,900 cu ft/s); at Oraison it is 123 cubic metres per second (4,300 cu ft/s) and after the confluence with the Verdon, flow reaches 174 cubic metres per second (6,100 cu ft/s) (250 to 330 m³/s in spring, 100 m³/s in the summer). The contribution of water from the downstream tributaries

6248-454: The range's area), Italy (27.2%), France (21.4%), Switzerland (13.2%), Germany (5.8%), Slovenia (3.6%), Liechtenstein (0.08%) and Monaco (0.001%). The highest portion of the range is divided by the glacial trough of the Rhône valley, from Mont Blanc to the Matterhorn and Monte Rosa on the southern side, and the Bernese Alps on the northern. The peaks in the easterly portion of the range, in Austria and Slovenia, are smaller than those in

6336-401: The recently arrived muskrat . Otters have recently become extinct in the entire catchment area. The populations of algae and water plants (100 species on average) and water invertebrates (77 species) are more varied than before the dams compared with populations on the similar Asse and Buëch . Ludwigia , the primrose willow, is an invasive plant having gradually spread since 1986 in

6424-413: The rising peaks underwent erosion, a layer of marine flysch sediments was deposited in the foreland basin , and the sediments became involved in younger folds as the orogeny progressed. Coarse sediments from the continual uplift and erosion were later deposited in foreland areas north of the Alps. These regions in Switzerland and Bavaria are well-developed, containing classic examples of flysch , which

6512-483: The river. Alps The Alps ( / æ l p s / ) are one of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe , stretching approximately 1,200 km (750 mi) across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco , France , Switzerland , Italy , Liechtenstein , Germany , Austria and Slovenia . The Alpine arch extends from Nice on the western Mediterranean to Trieste on

6600-522: The rock formations of the Alps in the 18th century. In the mid-19th century, the now-defunct idea of geosynclines was used to explain the presence of "folded" mountain chains. This theory was replaced in the mid-20th century by the theory of plate tectonics . The formation of the Alps (the Alpine orogeny ) was an episodic process that began about 300 million years ago. In the Paleozoic Era

6688-513: The small Provençal mountain ranges between which it flows ( Alpilles and Luberon ). The Durance receives only one significant tributary on this last part of its course: the Calavon , which flows around the Lubéron range to the north. This is a list of rivers longer than 20 kilometres (12 mi) that flow into the Durance. They are listed in order of the confluence, starting upstream. A river

6776-461: The stagnant water in dead gravel pits and ponds. There are only fourteen fish species, including some native species: souffia , south-west European nase and large populations of Zingel asper and spined loach which are both endangered species of fish. But the silting and the lack of oxygen has greatly reduced the number of trout . The European brook lamprey has been seen in recent times but it may have disappeared since. The Durance played

6864-529: The summer and 10 °C (50 °F) in the winter. These are a significant factor in the biodiversity of the river. The dams in the valley have reduced the incidence of floods and so have allowed the colonisation of alluvial space by alder and poplar in riparian forests . The banks, although less wet, still accommodate 110 species of birds during the year, plus 82 species of migratory birds , which rest, feed and sometime reproduce. One-hundred-ten species of animal hibernate there. Avian diversity increased after

6952-752: The summer months and where huts and hay barns can be found, sometimes constituting tiny hamlets. Therefore, the term "the Alps", as a reference to the mountains, is a misnomer. The term for the mountain peaks varies by nation and language: words such as Horn , Kogel , Kopf , Gipfel , Spitze , Stock , and Berg are used in German-speaking regions; Mont , Pic , Tête , Pointe , Dent , Roche , and Aiguille in French-speaking regions; and Monte , Picco , Corno , Punta , Pizzo , or Cima in Italian-speaking regions. The Alps are

7040-527: The third largest in terms of its flow (after the Saône and Isère ). The Durance is documented as Druentia (1st c. AD), Drouéntios (Δρουέντιος; 2nd c. AD), Durantia (854) and Durentia (1127). The name Dru-ent-ia probably means 'the flowing one', stemming from the Proto-Indo-European root * dreu - ('to run, walk fast'). Similar names are found in the names of many rivers in

7128-539: The various orogenies including exposures of basement rock. Due to the ever-present geologic instability, earthquakes continue in the Alps to this day. Typically, the largest earthquakes in the alps have been between magnitude 6 and 7 on the Richter scale. Geodetic measurements show ongoing topographic uplift at rates of up to about 2.5 mm per year in the North, Western and Central Alps, and at ~1 mm per year in

7216-466: The west from the Durance to Le Puy-Sainte-Réparade . Following the construction of the large EDF canal, which follows the Durance from Serre-Ponçon until Salon-de-Provence and the Étang de Berre , the water for the canal of Marseilles is now taken from the EDF canal, below Saint-Estève-Janson . From there to Marseille the canal follows an 80-kilometre (50 mi) path, of which 17 kilometres (11 mi)

7304-548: The west in the Bernese Oberland. Because of his work he came to be known as the "father of the ice-age concept" although other naturalists before him put forth similar ideas. Agassiz studied glacier movement in the 1840s at the Unteraar Glacier where he found the glacier moved 100 m (328 ft) per year, more rapidly in the middle than at the edges. His work was continued by other scientists and now

7392-483: The wind to move upstream. Several specialized businesses maintained this system transport. Workers known as nautes had a monopoly of transport on large rivers and used boats, whereas the utricularii operated on the small rivers and in the marshes using rafts floating on inflated goatskins. There were two groups of utriculari, one in Sisteron and one in Riez. This trade fed the activity of an important port, near to

7480-506: Was an almost complete success: The Durance used to have an average natural flow of 188 cubic metres per second (6,600 cu ft/s) and behaved like a Mediterranean river, but dams and canals have changed it considerably. When the flow is low, most of the water in the river now flows in "industrial channels" which by-pass the natural course of the river to run through hydro-electric power stations. These channels can take up to 250 cubic metres per second (8,800 cu ft/s), so that it

7568-458: Was increased at the confluence with the Verdon by a further 500 cubic metres per second (18,000 cu ft/s). The height of the water at the gorge at Cadarache is at 472 millimetres (18.6 in), after an average of 750 millimetres (30 in) of rain because 63% of the rain flows into the Durance. At Mirabeau, the lowest flow was 27 cubic metres per second (950 cu ft/s) (during

7656-662: Was obtained thanks to actions of clean-up projects on the river itself and on the tributaries of the Luye and Calavon (also called le Coulon)). There remain some black spots in the valley (downstream from the Arkema factory at Château-Arnoux , below the confluence with the Calavon. The 320 millimetres (13 in) depth variation results in significant temperature variations, from 0 to 28 °C (32 to 82 °F) seasonally; daily temperatures have 7.5 °C (45.5 °F) of amplitude in

7744-484: Was occasionally used as a name for Scotland , although it is more likely derived from the Latin word albus , the colour white. In modern languages the term alp , alm , albe or alpe refers to a grazing pastures in the alpine regions below the glaciers, not the peaks. An alp refers to a high mountain pasture, typically near or above the tree line , where cows and other livestock are taken to be grazed during

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