Image Credits: Gorges du Verdon Creative Commons License ToNic-Pics (pixabay.com), Robines Marcoux (credits to the Department of Alpes de Haute-Provence).

A geomorphological approach is key in the Alpes de Haute-Provence and the Province of Cuneo as this pre-Alpine and Alpine region is structured around valleys shaped by watercourses. These drain either small catchment areas (Le Sasse, Le Gesso d'Entracque) or very large catchment areas (Le Verdon, L'Ubaye, la Stura di Demonte). Their distribution and extent determine the local or regional settlement of events detected in sedimentary deposits. In addition, the slopes and the nature of the substrate, such as black marl, are particularly prone to erosion as a result of storms (torrential erosion) and the clearing of the forest cover (which holds back the soil) for grazing by livestock. Geomorphological analysis also enables us to trace the phases of climate warming that followed the last ice age (retreat of the glaciers) at the interface between the Mediterranean climate and the mountain climate. In summary, geomorphology can be used here to give an exceptionally accurate picture of how surface formations react to climate change and of the impact or displacement of human activities.