Welcome to the moon! In the heart of the Haute-Provence Geopark, the “terres noires”, a lunar-like landscape, are a breathtaking sight. The rock of which they are composed is the result of the deposition of marine clay-limestone sediments known as marl. The erosion of these marls is known as robines (gullies). Their color is due to the presence of iron sulfide. The black soils are called “bad lands” by the English, as vegetation is virtually non-existent. Only a few thorny shrubs survive on these impermeable, highly erodible rocks.