2023-11-18 09:00:00
It is undoubtedly the book of his life. Mines and minerals of the Barrot dome (1). A vein of gold: 230 pages on glossy paper, masterfully interspersed with 550 photos, drawings, illustrations, written by Gilbert Mari.
These mines are one of the strong themes of this weekend at Phœnix Park, during the traditional minerals, fossils and precious stones show. A meeting organized by the City, the Natural History Museum of Nice and the Association of Naturalists of Nice and the Alpes-Maritimes (Annam), of which this erudite scientist was the active president from 1980 to 2020.
“The fruit of 40 years of investigations”
Still administrator of Annam, of the Mercantour Park, honorary president of the Daluis gorges regional nature reserve, Gilbert Mari, ex-teacher, ex-biologist at Nice University Hospital, is releasing his eleventh book.
Much more than a book, “it is the fruit of 40 years of investigations in the Barrot dome”, argues this enthusiast of underground riches, whose interest in minerals dates back to adolescence. “When the curator of the Natural History Museum showed me a sample of copper from the Daluis gorges…”he remembers.
Since then, he has dissected everything about Barrot’s dome. “A hot spot for copper research, in the northwest of the Alpes-Maritimes, cut to the east by the Cians gorges and to the west by the Daluis gorges. One of the oldest in the world: 280 million years for these red rocks due to oxyof the of iron. These are formations from the Permian, the last period of the primary era with clay deposits and manifestations resulting from volcanic products.”
“Among the oldest in Western Europe”
Mines supplying copper then? “Yes, but native copper: naturally in the metal state. These mines, very small and among the oldest in Western Europe, present several interests: they have been exploited since prehistory and the last attempts at exploitation date back to 1884. Then, they provided mineral species previously unknown. ” It is therefore thanks to Gibert Mari that we owe the discovery of these species.
And to specify: “I don’t know of any mines so small that have yielded so many minerals, including Gilmarite [condensé patronymique de Gilbert Mari], rouaïte, barrotite. Three of the nine unknown species, which I actually found in the company of my wife, Danielle and a friend, Pierre Rolland.”
Other sites are highlighted. Like the Cerisier mines, above Puget-Théniers. An ore which needed metallurgical treatment. These mines operated from 1860 to 1866 with a factory on site in Léouvé. At the time of full operation, there were up to 230 people working on the site.
Gilbert Mari’s work can therefore be discovered this weekend. And according to Caroline Mergalet, show manager: “It is a very beautiful book, very well documented, with exceptional iconography. We detect there a whole sensitivity, not only on the mineral species, but also on the history of the land, the human, the work of the ancients .”
1. From Éditions du Piat, 45 euros.
A look back at a NASA mission and its “luxury sample” of an asteroid
Three highlights for this show, where as usual thousands of specimens from the depths of the earth will be displayed – emeralds, aquamarines, topaz, quartz, tourmaline… – intended for collectors, connoisseurs or just people who have come take in the sights.
First, a conference around Gilbert Mari’s book, then the copy of an impressive ammonite (fossil nearly 2 meters in diameter) exhibited by the Natural History Museum of Nice and finally the return of the Osiris probe- Rex (1).
“Revelations on the constitution of the solar system”
Osiris-Rex. A NASA mission to the asteroid Bennu. There, where the probe landed. Who is back among the earthlings. Caroline Mergalet wants to share her enthusiasm with as many people as possible: “7 years of travel for this probe which traveled more than 6 million kilometers and which returned with a luxury sample: 250 grams from the asteroid. He will make revelations about the constitution of the solar system and as a result, he will provide information on the history of the earth.
Because the basic idea, when we send a probe, is this recurring question: where does life come from?
“Across the world, 8 laboratories, including the Côte d’Azur Observatory, will be able to analyze the fragments. »
At the minerals fair, two specialists will talk about the probe and the asteroid during the two days of the weekend: Guy Libourel, cosmographer, professor at the University of Côte d’Azur, who works for the OCA and Brigitte Zanda , teacher-researcher, from the Paris Natural History Museum.
From earth to sky, a true festival of mineral substances, including extra-terrestrial ones!
Learn more
Minerals, fossils and precious stones fair, this weekend, from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., at Phœnix Park, Linné room, 405, Promenade des Anglais.
Conferences on the ancient copper mines of the Daluis gorges or the treasure of Amen, by Gilbert Mari, Saturday and Sunday, at 3 p.m. and “I love Bennu”, by the OCA, Saturday and Sunday, at 4:30 p.m.
Adult: €7
Children aged 12 to 18 and students: €5
1700299211
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