Belledonne massif, Savoie, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Francei

Regional Level Types
Belledonne massif	Massif
Savoie	Department
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes	Region
France	Country

From Wikipedia:

Belledonne (French: La chaine de Belledonne) is a mountain range (French: massif) in the Dauphiné Alps (part of the French Alps) in southeast France. The southern end of the range forms the eastern wall of the mountains that surround the city of Grenoble.

The range is noted for the spectacular scenery it provides the inhabitants of Grenoble, numerous ski areas, interesting geology, and a diverse range of alpine land types and uses.

The Belledonne range is approximately 60 km (37 mi) long by between 10 km (6.2 mi) wide and runs from roughly 45°03′N 5°48′E, 16 km (9.9 mi) south-south-east of the city of Grenoble, in a north-easterly direction (actually 35 degrees) for 65 km (40 mi) to roughly 45°33′N 6°17′E, near the town of Aiguebelle. The highest point is the Grand Pic de Belledonne, 2,977 m (9,767 ft).

The range is delineated by several valleys which lie at relatively low altitude, including the Grésivaudan Valley (which carries the Isère) on the west, the river Arc to the north and the Romanche to the south. The range counts dozens of peaks over 2,500 m (8,200 ft), more than 10 glaciers, and many alpine lakes, the highest of which is over 2,400 m (7,900 ft) above sea level.

Geologically, Belledonne is a concatenation of ranges which are not physically separated; from north to south, these are the Grand Arc, the Lauzière, the Sept-Laux, Belledonne proper, and the Taillefer.

Belledonne is a crystalline range. It initiated as a Paleozoic peneplain which was covered by Mesozoic sediments, then raised and tilted during the Tertiary uplift of the Alps and subjected to glacial erosion during the Quaternary. As a result of its geologic history, Belledonne alternates jagged peaks with gentle slopes.

Belledonne overlooks the fairly flat Isère Valley (French: Grésivaudan) which lies only 220 m (720 ft) above sea level near Grenoble.

Fossils

There are 2 fossil localities from the PaleoBioDB database within this region.

BETA TEST - These data are provided on an experimental basis and are taken from external databases. Mindat.org has no control currently over the accuracy of these data.

Occurrences	6
Youngest Fossil Listed	66.0 Ma (Late/Upper Cretaceous)
Oldest Fossil Listed	145 Ma (Late Jurassic)
Fossils from Region	Click here to show the list.
Accepted Name Hierarchy Age Nerinea genus Animalia : Mollusca : Gastropoda : Nerineidae : Nerinea 125 - 113 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous Caprotina genus Animalia : Mollusca : Bivalvia : Hippuritida : Caprotinidae : Caprotina 125 - 113 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous Eryma genus Animalia : Arthropoda : Malacostraca : Decapoda : Erymidae : Eryma 145 - 66 Ma Cretaceous Glyphea meyeri species Animalia : Arthropoda : Malacostraca : Decapoda : Glypheidae : Glyphea : Glyphea meyeri 145 - 66 Ma Cretaceous
Fossil Localities	Click to show 2 fossil localities

Other Databases

Wikipedia:	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belledonne
Wikidata ID:	Q792472
GeoNames ID:	3033725

Localities in this Region

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