Puy des Goules

Places to see in ( Clermont Ferrand - France ) Le Puy du Pariou

Places to see in ( Clermont Ferrand - France ) Le Puy du Pariou

The Puy de Pariou, also known as Puy Pariou or Le Pariou, is a volcano located in the Chaîne des Puys, in the Massif Central region. It is formed by the overlay of two strombolian cones and a tuff ring; it produced three lava flows during its eruptive history.

The Puy de Pariou is located about 10 km at the west of Clermont-Ferrand and a little more than 2 km from Orcines, at the south of the road that crosses the Col des Goules. The Puy des Goules is less than 400 meters north; the Cliersou, the Grand Suchet and the Petit Suchet are situated a few hundred meters west and south-west, and the Puy de Dôme lies about 1.5 km south.Its highest point reaches 1,209 meters, 250 meters above the crystalline basement that forms the surrounding plain.

It has a typical volcano shape of strombolian type, and its crater is formed by two craters, one nested in the other. The central crater, which is the highest and most recent, has an almost perfect circle shape. It descends 90 meters and a 200 meter diameter. The two craters are not on the same axis, contrary to those Puy de Côme. The Puy de Pariou is often compared to Mount Vesuvius, because of its recent cone topping a somma.

The history of the Pariou started with the rising of the old Pariou, a strombolian cone where big explosions ejected trachytic products mixed to crystalline basement rubble. The magmatism became trachybasaltic and formed a lava flow in the south-west of the volcano. This flow spread over almost 2 km and reached the current location of Orcines.

After that, a more explosive episode began, during which the old Pariou was almost completely hidden by a trachyandesitic tuff ring. Only a small part of the ancient strombolian cone remains visible, in the south, with the rest covered by the tuff ring. The ashes of this eruptive episode spread over a large region, at least until Clermont-Ferrand.

( Clermont Ferrand - France ) is well know as a tourist destination because of the variety of places you can enjoy while you are visiting Clermont Ferrand . Through a series of videos we will try to show you recommended places to visit in Clermont Ferrand - France

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