Le Gouléïou

The lava, emitted at a temperature of 700 to 800°C, was too pasty to spread out and accumulated above its point of emission. Far from matching the usual image of a volcano, with its cone and crater, it was a simple fracture open towards the surface.
The particular conditions that governed the formation of this relief (temperature of the lava at the time of emission, degree of viscosity, speed of ascent to the surface, shape of the feeder pipe) explain its unique shape, which is unparalleled in the surrounding area.
Like all the phonolite reliefs in this sector, Gouléïou must have appeared between 8.5 and 6.5 million years ago, at the end of the construction of the Eastern Velay.
It thus post-dates the great basaltic plateaux of the Saint-Clément type, which the phonolite had to cross via fissures to reach the surface.
The emission of phonolites gave rise to a very dangerous type of eruptive dynamism, known as pelean (from Montagne Pelée in Martinique). The violent explosions that characterise this type of volcanism are linked to the accumulation of gases contained in the magma as it rises. They are the source of the famous "nuées ardentes", avalanches of rocky debris mixed with hot, toxic gases, with devastating effects.

All year round.

Free access.

Ça peut vous intéresser

Le Maar de Borée-Echamps

Borée

Le Mont Gerbier de Jonc

Saint-Martial

Group accommodation Genestou

Borée

Dolmen des Beaumes

Borée

Le Mont Mézenc

Borée

Le Gouléïou

Borée

Le hêtre de Borée

Borée

Mézenc Marmots

Borée

Saint Martial Lake

Saint-Martial

Producteurs de Violine de Borée

Borée

Suc de Touron

Borée

Gîte Le Hameau gourmand

Saint-Martial

Itinéraire de randonnée “le cirque des Boutières – Mont Mézenc” – Borée

Borée

À proximité

Hotel - restaurant

Hôtel la Découverte

Les Estables

Historic site and monument

Chartreuse de Bonnefoy (Carthusian monastery ruins)

Le Béage

Historic site and monument

Vallée du Pradal

Saint-Martial

Bed & breakfast

Chambre d’hôtes la Retrouvade

La Rochette

Group gîte

Gîte d’étape communal

La Rochette

Bed & breakfast

Chambres d’hôtes Auberge du Mézenc

Borée

Unusual accommodation

Roulotte en bois dans un écrin de nature

Borée

Historic site and monument

Dolmen des Beaumes

Borée

Brasserie

L’Atelier

Les Estables

Group gîte

Le P’tit Chalet du Mézenc

Les Estables

Shops

Epicerie Auberge du Mézenc

Borée

Traditional cooking

Les Fermiers du Mézenc

Les Estables