Geological and archeological Update July 3rd 2014 visit of Geneva Walter Wildi, Pierre Corboud, Stéphanie Girardclos, Georges Gorin Geological and archeological visit of Geneva Key words: geology, archeology, field trip, Geneva Walter Wildi, Pierre Corboud, Stéphanie Girardclos, Georges Gorin Christian
[email protected] Section of Earth and Environmental Sciences Rue des Maraîchers 13, CH-1211 Genève 4 Copyright 2014 Document available on the website http://www.unige.ch/forel/Services/Visitegeologique_en.html 1 Table of contents Foreword ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………........ 3 1.Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 3 1.1. The natural site ……………...................................................................................................................................................... 3 1.2. Geological history of the Geneva Basin ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 5 1.3. Human occupation of the Geneva site …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 15 2. Site visit ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 24 Ge 1: Geological visit of Geneva City ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 25 Ge 1.1: The Arve River: an Alpine river and its alluvial plain…………………………………………………………………………………………………. 27 Ge 1.2: Bois de la Bâtie: the «Alluvion ancienne», deposits of an old proglacial plain covered by the Upper Basal Moraine of the Rhône Glacier………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 30 Ge 1.3: From the