La source de Fontchaude

The Fontchaude spring owes its name to the fact that it doesn't freeze in winter. In summer, the water is pleasantly refreshing for walkers. Its fairly constant temperature is due to a long, deep journey through a karstic (underground) network. The water is thus protected from outside temperature variations, and then emerges into the open air through a fault that acts like a drain. The spring gushes out at the foot of a large limestone bar streaked with marl layers. Here, the landscape tells the story of nearly 300 million years of earth history, and several classified sites of the National Geological Nature Reserve have been identified and developed.
Several other springs in the Haute-Provence Geopark are fed by limestone: the Saint-Benoît spring at the heart of the Promenade Museum in Digne-les-Bains, and the Chanolles spring in Prads-Haute-Bléone.