Contenu du sommaire

Summary. — In L'Argentière « canton », mountain pastures are mostly convenient for sheep. They also are part of a magnificent scenery, as rock and ice only can be hard to stand. Summer grazing should go on to keep them tidy and narrower links between tourism and agriculture should support local farming.

— an alpine the winter residence was joined with traditional summer grazing. The present travellings imply four phases. This apparently aberrant winter residence is a solution to the transformation of the mountain hamlet into a skiing resort. The development of this twofold seasonal activity corresponds to a specialisation in cattle rearing and to the establishment of a kind of semi-nomadic way of life. It has also caused a transfer of farming activity towards the alp, representig the following inconveniences: the farmers' isolation, divided spheres of work, and conflicting interests with holyday-maker as to the use of the alpine prairies.

Abstract. — The lower part of the slopes of the Chartreuse massif in lower Grésivaudan consists of a series of fossil spreading-cones. Their major argillaceous material is typified by the Saint-lsmier clays. These sheets were formed by diffuse under-forest trickling down water, mostly during the Atlantic period. A high degree of rainfall was probably responsible. The stoppage of morphogenisis in the beginning of the Subboreal is likely connected with the relative drying-up of the climate, perhaps in connexion with early human activity.

Abstract. — The calcareous or marble ridges stand out above deep valleys of schists and phyllads. The testimonie of the period of the uprisings are scarse in the mountain. They are located in the surrounding basins where recent tectonic changes progressed Eastwards. Maps indicate the main phases of recent movements.

Abstract. — The Bossons glacier in the Mont-Blanc massif has, among others, been advancing over the last 20 years. During the years 1981-198?, this advance went on at an accelerated rate. Several observations and measurements were made and some explanations for this phenomenon are given. Additional evidence in the form of a human foot that most probably belonged to a passenger from the plane which crashed on the Mont-Blanc some 30 years ago, was recently discovered on the glacier front. An average ice velocity over this period of time can be calculated ; it amounts to about 260 meters per year.