The Digne Prealps () are a massif in the southern part of the

French Prealps The French Prealps ( ); are a group of subalpine mountain ranges of medium elevation located immediately west of the French Alps. They roughly stretch from Lake Geneva southwest to the rivers Isère and Drôme; east to a line running from Chamo ...

located in the department of

Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (sometimes abbreviated as AHP; ; ; ), formerly until 1970 known as Basses-Alpes (, ), is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France, bordering Alpes-Maritimes and Italy to the east, Var to the sou ...

Geography

Location

The massif extends around

Digne-les-Bains Digne-les-Bains (; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Dinha dei Banhs''), or simply and historically Digne (''Dinha'' in the Franco-Provençal, classical norm or ''Digno'' in the Mistralian norm), is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Alpe ...

, between the

Durance The Durance (; ''Durença'' in the Occitan classical norm or ''Durènço'' in the Mistralian norm) is a major river in Southeastern France. A left tributary of the Rhône, it is long. Its drainage basin is .Serre-Ponçon lake to the north, and the

Verdon gorge The Verdon Gorge (French language, French: ''Gorges du Verdon'' ) is a river canyon located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of Southeastern France. It is about 25 km (15.5 mi) long and up to 700 metres (0.4 ...

to the south. It is bordered by the

communes A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

Sisteron Sisteron (; , ; from ) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, southeastern France. Sisteron is situated on the banks of the river Durance just after the confluence of the rivers Buëch and Sasse. ...

Gréoux-les-Bains Gréoux-les-Bains (; Provençal Occitan: ''Greù'') is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. Best known for its Château des Templiers, the town is on the right b ...

and

Castellane Castellane (; Provençal dialect, Provençal Occitan language, Occitan: ''Castelana'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region ...

. It is surrounded to the northwest by the Bochaine, to the northeast by

Massif des Trois-Évêchés Massif des Trois-Évêchés (; ; ) is a mountain range in the Provence Alps and Prealps in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France. Its name comes from the central summit of the massif, the Pic des Trois-Évêchés (so named because it marked the boundar ...

, to the south-east by the Castellane Prealps and finally to the west by the

Vaucluse mountains The Vaucluse Mountains (French: ''Monts de Vaucluse'') are a mountain range of the French Prealps located in the departement of Vaucluse, between the Luberon, Luberon Massif and Mont Ventoux. The highest peak is Signal de Saint-Pierre, which r ...

and the Baronnies Massif.

Main summits

* Les Monges, 2,115 m, * Clot Ginoux (or Les Cimettes), 2,112 m * l'Oratoire, 2,071 m * Tête Grosse, 2,032 m * Laupie (ou Tourtoureau), 2,025 m * Clos de Bouc, 1,962 m * Montagne de Chine, 1,952 m * Mourre de Chanier, 1,930 m * Marzenc, 1,930 m * Sommet de Nibles, 1,909 m * Mont Chiran, 1,905 m * Grande Cloche de Barles, 1,887 m * Montagne de Jouere, 1,886 m * Chanau, 1,885 m * Géruen Ridge, 1,880 m * Grande Gautiere, 1,825 m

Geology

These ranges are identified by geologists by the Digne

nappes In geology, a nappe or thrust sheet is a large sheetlike body of rock that has been moved more than or above a thrust fault from its original position. Nappes form in compressional tectonic settings like continental collision zones or on the ...

, on the edge of the Trois-Évêchés massif, extending to Gap, whose characteristic

outcrops An outcrop or rocky outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth and other terrestrial planets. Features Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most p ...

are

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate Hydrate, dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, drywall and blackboard or sidewalk ...

. It gradually leads to the Provençal

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

domain, towards the west and south, particularly towards the Valensole plateau.

References

{{Western Alps Western Alps French Alps Geography of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Geography of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur