page_title: Nontronnais
section_title: Geology
hierarchical_section_title: Nontronnais / Geology
caption_attribution_description: Plagioclase-rich paragneiss from Nontron, France
context_page_description: The Nontronnais is a natural region in the northern Dordogne département and therefore part of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It covers the surrounding of the centrally placed subprefecture Nontron. Jules Verne had called the Nontronnais Périgord vert referring to the region's lush vegetation. The term Périgord vert is used mainly in tourism, but is not identical with the Nontronnais, which covers a much smaller area.
context_section_description: The Nontronnais is traversed from southeast to northwest by a very important geological boundary separating basement rocks in the northeast from flat lying sediments of the Aquitaine Basin in the southwest. This boundary is usually marked by an important fault. The crystalline basement rocks consist of high-grade paragneisses in sillimanite facies and granitoids like the Piégut-Pluviers Granodiorite and the Saint-Mathieu Leucogranite. The sediments of the Aquitaine Basin harbour arkoses, dolomites, shales and various limestones. The border fault starts near Saint-Pardoux-la-Rivière, passes near the lower town of Nontron and continues towards Saint-Martin-le-Pin. The fault is mineralized and was mined for lead, zinc and minor silver. As the mining activities aren't economically viable anymore they stopped.
caption: Plagioclase-rich paragneiss from Nontron
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