Paris basin

The Paris basin is, with the restricted direction, a Bassin pouring the Seine which surrounds Paris. In the broad sense, it is a geological area Sédiment surface including/understanding all the center-north of the France, overflowing on the Belgium, the Luxembourg and the south-west of the Germany, being spread out Armorican Massif with the the Vosges and the Ardennes with the Massif Central. The basin presents a relatively uniform sedimentary landscape.

The Paris basin constitutes one of the first economic areas of Europe and one of the principal zones of overseas investments in France and Europe. The area counts the first European business district, one of the principal European airport complexes, two seaports of continental importance (Le Havre and Rouen), most Western of the Manche, and two valleys: the Seine and the the Loire. The Paris basin remains however not very dense and is located slightly at the variation of the main roads of trade and space humanly very dense consisted the Rhenish Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and the South-east of the England (the European megalopolis).

Geography

Physical geography

The Paris basin is largest natural Région of France.

It occupies the center of the Northern half of the country. It is a sedimentary Bassin which affects the shape of an open basin towards the Manche and the Atlantique: it includes/understands the Bassin pouring the Seine like those many small coastal rivers in Picardy and Normandy and part of that of the the Loire.

The landscapes are Plaine S and plates low height. On the South-eastern circumference and Is, towards the threshold of Burgundy and in Champagne, the erosion of the various geological layers formed of the coasts which are soft inclined towards the interior of the basin and much stronger towards outside, the Cuesta S (Côte of Gold, Côte of the Bar). The plates (Barrois, Burgundy, Country of Caux, Picardy, Soissonnais) attest the presence of the limestone or the chalk, which resist erosion. Surfaces are there almost horizontal or far from corrugated. The rivers cut out deep valleys. The plains (Boischot, wet Champagne, the Sologne) come from easily cleared tender grounds or from hard stones which resisted well (Champagne dry and Valois). The valleys represent a large surface (in particular that of the Seine and the Loire which form alluvial plains). In the center of the basin of many hillocks (Montmorency, Isle-Adam, Valérien Mount…)announce the presence of limestone to the top of clays or sands. In the East, the cuestas preceded by flat-topped outliers indicate the layers of hard limestones overhanging of the more tender layers.

Most of the hydrographic network converges towards the center of the basin (area of Paris) where subsidence was maintained very a long time. But another part is attracted towards south-west (sea of the shelly sands), the Loire being diverted towards the Atlantic (brutal change of direction towards Orleans). In the East, precociously stabilized, the rivers (Meuse, the Moselle), dammed up by the cuestas, move towards the sea of North.

The weakness of altitudes and the vast plane surfaces support circulation on rivers to weak slope or on roads traced without difficulties. Natural aptitudes reinforced by the fact that the basin opens easily towards outside, by average areas of altitude. The Paris basin is separated from the Flemish plain by the hills of the Artois. It confines, in the West, the Armorican Massif. It is separated from the Aquitanian Bassin by the Seuil of Poitou, is limited to the south by the Massif Central and the Morvan, and communicates with the valley of the the Saone by the threshold of Burgundy In the east it is limited by the solid mass hercynien the Vosges

Areas and big cities

Administratively, the Paris basin includes/understands the Île-de-France, the Picardy, the Champagne-Ardenne, the Center, the Basse-Normandie and the High-Normandy like two departments, the Yonne (area Burgundy) and the the Sarthe (area Pays of the Loire).

The principal agglomerations are Paris, Rouen, Le Havre, Rheims, Tours, Orleans, Mans, Amiens and Troyes. Closer to Paris, one finds a network of intermediate cities (called Villes outposts, City-relay or Cities at one Paris time) with horse between the administrative area to which they belong and the Paris region towards which they look at from now on and where them population more and more often works. It is the case of Beauvais, Compiegne, Soissons, Castle-Thierry, Montargis, Pithiviers, Chartres, Dreux, Évreux, Vernon or Creil closer to Paris, are they in geographical locations connecting them more at one city like Meaux, already fully integrated in the Paris and its suburbs.

Exploitation of the ground

The Paris basin is a vast agricultural area. Its weak reliefs and its ground in Beauce, Ile-de-France and Picardy are favorable to the intensive culture of Céréale S, Betterave and colza on very large farms. Towards the West, in Basse-Normandie, the ground, more argillaceous, supports the grazing ground and the breeding. The High-Normandy constitutes a zone of transition between cereals and breeding. In the south, the the Sologne, on the ground marshy, not very favourable with the culture, is covered with drills, exploited for their wood, and shelters game and wild birds, which does of them one of largest the area of hunting of France. In the east, in Champagne, the grounds limestones, permeable, associated with the geography in coasts, is the field of the culture of the Vigne, of or is resulting the Wine from champagne. The cereal culture on very mechanized large farms makes old " Champagne pouilleuse" , a great agricultural area. The the Loire Valley, between Beauce and the Sologne, is an area of culture of the vine and truck farming

Geology

Description

With the geological direction, the Paris basin is a vast basin Sédiment surface with the rocks of marine origin , Lac ustre and lagunaires, then fluviatile, accumulated, in the center of the basin (surroundings of Castle-Thierry), on 3000 meters of depth on a base Hercynien. This basin is delimited by old solid masses hercyniens (the Ardennes, Hunsrück, the Vosges, Morvan, Massif Central and Armorican Massif). It communicates with the Aquitanian Bassin by the Seuil of Poitou, with the valley of the the Saone by the threshold of Burgundy and with the germano-Polish Plaine by the plain of Flanders. In a diagrammatic way, one can compare the basin with a series of the concentric aureoles, youngest in the center and oldest with the periphery, in a configuration similar to a pile of the plates, smallest encased in largest. These sedimentary aureoles are delimited from/to each other by slopes, the " Cuesta s", (Coasts of the Bar, Champagne Coast,…)(the section of the plates).

Geological formation

It rests on a deeply hidden crystalline base, probably of origin Néoprotérozoïque, of which the rocks dates of the Orogenèse Cadomienne.

After the erosion of the area to the Cambrien, of the sediments (sandstone and Schist S) settles. With the Silurien, under the action of the Plate tectonics , the future Paris basin derives with microcontinent Armorica and enters in collision with the continent Euramérique to the Dévonien. It is then again raised by the orogenesis Hercynien which assigns all the Central Europe to the Carbonifère, and folds the former sediments. At the end of the Carboniferous one, whole France is occupied by imposing mountains, with the exeption of the Flanders and Pas-de-Calais, or settle in marshes of the vegetable residues quickly buried by the remains of the intense erosion of the reliefs, which will form the carboniferous basins North and of Belgium.

With the Permian (less than 100 million years later), after the erosion of the mountains, the area of the Paris basin subsides, by post-orogenetic reaction. Trough faults were detected in the base under 3000 meters of more recent sediments.

At the beginning of the Sorted, the depression thus created sees forming a deposit of the detrital rocks terrigenous exits of the erosion of the surrounding solid masses hercyniens, forming layers of sandstone. Towards the end of Sorted, the basin is covered by a not very deep tropical sea, connected to the Germanic sea to the East and E the alpine Téthys in the South, with tropical water, which left evaporitic deposits, the area being under desert tropical latitudes (around the Tropic of Cancer).

With the Jurassic , after one period of detrital deposition , the sea recovering the basin becomes populated corals, which leave carbonated deposits (Calcaire S). In same time, under the combined action of the weight of the sediments and the fragmentation of Pangée, which stretches the continental Croûte, the basin is inserted (phenomenon of Subsidence).

With the Cretaceous , the crustal tensions ends with the final opening of the Northern Atlantique, and the basin is found emerged in its northern part. The south-east however regularly innondé by the sea. This period is rich in sandy deposits. With the higher Cretaceous, the sea invades the entirety of the basin again and deposits thick layers of Craie, formed by the accumulation of the hulls (tests) limestones of a type of Phytoplancton, the Coccolithophoridés, today levelling in Champagne chalky, Picardy and High-Normandy.

With the Paleocene , all the European continental crust raises under the push of alpine orogenesis , in the south. The south of the Paris basin is found emerged, while its oriental party, the solid mass of the Vosges, raises herself, curving the sedimentary layers and raising the edges of the basin. These layers carried in altitudes will be thus strongly exposed to erosion, and this erosion will give rise to the formation of the " Cuesta s", erosion releasing the old layers. During this time, the sea pushed back towards the North-West, deposits shelly limestones. Withdrawing itself it will leave room to Lagune S depositing of the marnes. At the end of the Paleocene one, the sea returns, deposits Sable S and Argile S, then is withdrawn, succeeded by the lakes which form a deposit of limestones.

At the beginning of the Eocene , period of transgressions and marine recessions, the sea, coming from the North-West, invades the center of the basin again, until out of Champagne in the east and in the south of the Île-de-France in the south. Sands and clays and limestones settle, of which sands of Beauchamp. Leaving room to a lagoon centered on Paris, it returns for the last time during the Oligocène and deposits sands known as of Fontainebleau.

With the Miocène, the current hydrographic network, whose Seine, is set up. The basin is then a vast plain hardly dominating the sea level.

With the Pliocène, the area is raised by the forces of tectonics: the Seine, confronted with a stronger slope, is inserted on the spot, digging in the sedimentary layers: it is the beginning of the formations of the slopes of the Seine, visible in High-Normandy, which updates chalks of the Cretaceous. The erosion of the grounds carried in altitude accelerates the formation of the cuestas.

During the glaciations of the Pleistocene, the sea level drops. The Seine adopts a stronger and continuous slope to dig its valley. It was at the time a river much more powerful than today. At the end of Pleistocene, the lake formed by the cast iron of the cap north-European refrigerator and located at the south of the the North Sea overflows on the level of the Pas-de-Calais, and flows in the Atlantic Ocean, causing a strong tertiary erosion of the layers S and Crétacées, thus digging the Pas-de-calais and separating the Paris basin from England.

During the Holocene which sees the end of the glaciations, the Seine, which finds a less violent course, deposits silt S and sands to form the islands which one sees today. The Paris basin covers with a moderate Forêt décidue.

History

The cradle of Gothic art

With Xe century the Capétien S, are lords in Île-de-France. Around their primitive possessions, they patiently will gather the seigniories of the area which will form the royal field. The maintenance of the royal crown in their family during 8 centuries and their decision, in XIIIème century, to establish in Paris the royal administration, will make Paris basin the heart of the Royaume of France. Paris, the Loire ch4ateau, Fontainebleau, Versailles are the symbols. The facility of the food supply (agricultural rich person areas entourage), out of construction materials and energy (careers and river transport), will allow the development of the capital, which quickly becomes one of the most important towns of Europe. The presence of a very many easy population related to the political power will develop the craft industry (often luxury) then, at the XIXème century, the industrialization of the capital and its immediate surroundings and will stimulate the agriculture of the basin. However the strong centralization of the political powers and economic in Paris will not allow the emergence of concurentes cities around the capital which seems a sun surrounded by tiny planets.

Economy

A history of hinterland

The Paris basin constitutes the Hinterland of Paris, its harbor back-country. The Paris basin thus saw its proximity with one of the nodes of the worldwide economy. The bonds between the various agglomerations deeply evolved/moved with the favor of this integration. Even if they are still perceived like eminently hierarchical, the interurban relations are copied more and more on horizontal modes of organization. To note that the Paris basin also constitutes the hinterland of the the Seine. The Loire being not very navigable, the agricultural productions of all the basin still are thus mainly exported by Rouen. Even if Le Havre collects only one weak part of the imports franciliennes and the Paris basin in the broad sense, the port depends very largely on this space and reciprocally.

Decentralization of the years 1970 with the world area of the years 2000

Rather rural and artisanal with leaving the Second world war, the Paris basin carries out a change with forced march which will precipitate its integration with the economy francilienne as from the years 1960. The Décentralisation of the French industry, decided with an aim of town and country planning will irrigate the areas surrounding the capital. It also will initiate a very important functional specialization at the origin of very hierarchical relations between central and peripheral spaces. In-depth recombining that the French economy as from the years 1980 knows does not save the Paris basin. Years 1990 are thus remembered by many factory shutdowns, for much resulting of decentralization. But this period opens also a new era in the relations between Paris and its economic hinterland since, benefitting from the quality of the labor and the proximity of Paris and a large final market, very many international groups come to be established in the Paris basin. This modification of the Économie of the Ile-de-France feeds a modification of the relations between Paris and the Paris basin. “clusters” appear thus in “periphery”, involving the “center” in their dynamics and redefining the supposed hierarchies.

References

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