The landscape of France is made up of low-lying plains, older mountain blocks and plateaus. The high ranges of Alps and the Pyrenees add to the diversity of relief in France. The diversity of relief of France is very much similar to the relief of Continental Europe.
The relief of France is made up of three main geologic regions. These are the skeletal remains of ancient mountains that make up the Hercynian massifs, the higher young fold mountains in the south and southeast and the northern and western plains.
The variation in relief is due to the variation in the resistance of rocks to erosion. The landscape is so detailed also due to the fact that there was glaciation during the Pleistocene Epoch.
During glaciation, great ice sheets descended upon the northern Europe. France was outside this region. Hence, the regions that were sculpted by ice were restricted to the Alps, the Pyrenees, Corsica, the Vosges and the summits of the Massif Central.
Outside these glacial lands, periglacial lands are located. These periglacial lands experienced repeated freezing and thawing of the unprotected surfaces. This brought major changes in the topography of the slopes. There was movement of the waste sheets that were made up of shattered bedrock. The present day landscape of France was formed after all these changes.
The Pleistocene periglacial action had a major impact on the topography of France. This Pleistocene periglacial action led to the formation of sheets of fine windblown limon. The fertile lowland soils in France are there today because of this action. It is believed that this action also created the Landes. Landes is a sandy plain in southwestern France. The formation of river terraces can also be attributed to the periglacial action.
The northwestern part of France can be demarcated by drawing a diagonal from Bayonne to Sedan. Plains and plateaus dominate this region. The Paris basin, the regions of Beauce, Picardy and Brie are an integral part of this region.
The altitude increases at the Ardennes and Armorican massif. The Landes, Quercy and Perigord districts are located to the southwest in the Aquitaine basin. Towards southeastern France, there's greater contrast in relief.
The Vosgues and the Massif Central are the middle-level mountain ranges. The Alps and Pyrenees are the high-reaching and the tallest mountains of France. Mont Blanc is the highest peak of France. The Saone and Rhone valleys are some valleys of France.
The coasts of France also reflect diversity. The chalk cliffs of the Pays de Caux, the coastline of Brittany, the beaches of the Landes and Languedoc etc are some of the beaches of France. Indeed, the relief of France shows tremendous variation.
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