La capture de l'Aisne et les minéraux denses des alluvions de la Meuse dans les Ardennes

A mineralogical break, which is best expressed by the ratio zircon/tourmaline, has been observed at the level of a terrace of which the base occurs at an elevation of 127 m at Aubrives (5 km SW of Givet). The mineralogy of fluvial deposits preserved in the cut-off meander of Nouzonville (4 km north of Charleville) proves that this break results from the capture of the Aisne, which used to be a major tributary of the Meuse. Other deposits demonstrate that the old valley of the Meuse, now drained by the Vrigne and the Goutelle, was abandoned by the Meuse at almost the same time. The Meuse then followed the old course of the lower Aisne-Bar system. These events occurred about a million years ago. The lower discharge of the Meuse caused a decrease in the incision of the Palaeozoic Rocroi massif north of Nouzonville. This was consequently followed by a decrease of vertical erosion in the Paris Basin.