page_title: Aude
section_title: Geology
hierarchical_section_title: Aude / Geography / Geology
context_page_description: Aude is a department in Southern France, located in the Occitanie region and named after the river Aude. The departmental council also calls it "Cathar Country" after a group of religious dissidents active in the 12th century.
  Its prefecture is Carcassonne and its subprefectures are Limoux and Narbonne. As of 2016, it had a population of 368,025. Aude is a frequent feminine French given name in Francophone countries, deriving initially from Aude or Oda, a wife of Bertrand, Duke of Aquitaine, and mother of Eudo, brother of Saint Hubertus. Aude was the name of Roland's fiancée in the chansons de geste.
context_section_description: The landscapes of Aude can be explained by geology. In the south, there are sedimentary rocks folded during the formation of the Pyrenees. To the north and centre, the sedimentary rocks are less folded. At the extreme east, near the Mediterranean, the rocks are carved by normal collapse faults which are due to the opening of the Golfe du Lion.
  The Black Mountain and Minervois to the north consist of schist and marble forming the southern boundary of the Massif Central. These ancient rocks were formed over 300 million years ago and deformed by the formation of the Hercynian chain. The Montagne d'Alaric (Alaric's Mountain) is an antiform fold in the shape of a vault and made of limestone.
caption: Relief map with some main towns
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