Pas de Terre Rouge

View from the summit of 'Petite Cloche' and toward the south. The Digne Thrust system is an important part of the sub-Alpine chains of Haut Provence (SE France). Mesozoic and Tertiary successions are well exposed in the tectonic half-windows of Barles. During or after the Oligocene, the Digne thrust sheet advanced and progressively covered the fluvial red beds ('Molasse basin'). The syncline forming the 'Pas de Terre Rouge' (literally "step of bed reds") is pinched between the impressive Tithonian successions (Grande Cloche and Chanes Hautes).