The Chaîne des Puys-Limagne Fault is inscribed on the basis of
Criterion VIII

It is one of the rare places in the world where you can
see how the continental rifting process evolves, through these three fundamental stages:

• subsidence
  
• volcanism
  
• uplift
  

It is one of the major physical phenomena in the Earth’s history

If continental rifting had continued here, a new ocean would have been created.