Demoiselles Coiffées de Pontis

Demoiselles Coiffées de Pontis
Location
Location	Pontis, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France
Coordinates	44°30′15″N 6°21′00″E / 44.504214°N 6.349981°E / 44.504214; 6.349981Coordinates: 44°30′15″N 6°21′00″E / 44.504214°N 6.349981°E / 44.504214; 6.349981

The Demoiselles Coiffées de Pontis is a rock formation in Pontis, near Embrun in the French Alps, located on the edge of the Lac de Serre-Ponçon. The formation consists of a number of hoodoos, described as a "set of narrowly-tapered rock columns....topped with a large rock balanced neatly on the tip."^[1] In French, such structures are referred to as Demoiselles Coiffées ("ladies with hairdos").

It is one of the best-known^[2] and most attractive^[3] examples in France of the structure; an earlier commentator referred to them as "some fifty bizarre columns with hairdos."^[4]

View from above.

See also

• List of rock formations

References

1. ^ Collins, Russ (2005-2011). "Demoiselles Coiffées". ProvenceBeyond. http://www.beyond.fr/sites/coiffees.html. Retrieved 21 July 2011. 
2. ^ Haug, Émile (1907). Traité de géologie. 1. Librairie Armand Colin. p. 386. http://books.google.com/books?id=02sNAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA384-IA13. 
3. ^ Godefroy, René (1940). La nature alpine: exposé de géographie physique. B. Arthaud. p. 121. http://books.google.com/books?id=1ZDtAAAAMAAJ&q=Demoiselles+Coiff%C3%A9es+Pontis&dq=Demoiselles+Coiff%C3%A9es+Pontis&hl=en&ei=WpsoTuWJL4_AgQfat8Rc&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CD0Q6AEwBTgK. 
4. ^ G., E. (1900-1901). "Chronique des sociétés Alpines". Revue des alpes dauphinoises (Grenoble: Société des alpinists Dauphinois) 3: 19–21. http://books.google.com/books?id=8psaAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA20.