This book presents a beautifully illustrated overview of the most prominent landscapes of South Africa and the distinctive landforms associated with them. It describes the processes, origins and the environmental significance of those landscapes, including their relationships to human activity of the past and present. The sites described in this book include, amongst others, the Blyde River Canyon, Augrabies Falls, Kruger National Park, Kalahari desert landscapes, the Great Escarpment, Sterkfontein caves and karst system, Table Mountain, Cape winelands, coastal dunes, rocky coasts, Boer War battlefield sites, and Vredefort impact structure.
Landscapes and Landforms of South Africa provides a new perspective on South Africa’s scenic landscapes by considering their diversity, long and short term histories, and importance for geoconservation and geotourism. This book will be relevant to those interested in the geology, physical geography and history of South Africa, climate change and landscape tourism.
Table of Content
Landscapes and Landforms of South Africa – an overview.- Sandstone Landforms of the Karoo Basin: Naturally Sculpted Rock.- The Mpumalanga/Limpopo Escarpment: Geology and Fluvial Landforms.- Landscape and Landforms of the Vredefort Dome: Exposing an Old Wound.- Geomorphological evolution of the Pilanesberg.- The Drakensberg escarpment: mountain processes at the edge.- Rocky shorelines of the Wild Coast.- The Augrabies Falls region: a fluvial landscape divided in flow but magnificent in spectacle.- The Richtersveld: an ancient rocky wilderness.- The Cederberg: a rugged sandstone topography.- Table Mountain: Wonder of Nature at the Foot of Africa.- The Cape Winelands.- The Kruger National Park: geology and geomorphology of the wilderness.- The Maputaland Corridor: a coastal geomorphological treasure.- Of dunes, depressions and dry valleys: the arid landscapes of the Kalahari Desert.- The Western Free State Panfield: a landscape of myriad pans and lunettes.- The Sterkfontein Caves: geomorphology and hominin-bearing deposits.- Military Geography: Landscapes of the Anglo-Boer War.- Geoheritage and geotourism in South Africa.
About the author
The author is an Associate Professor in Physical Geography at the School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies of the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. He was awarded his Ph.D. from the University of Natal in Pietermaritzburg in 1998. Dr. Grab is a member of the South African Society for Quaternary Research, of the South African Society for Quaternary Research and of the Southern African Geographical Society. He works as a book review editor for The South African Geographical Journal.
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