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 Author: John S. Compton
This richly illustrated book provides a clear and accessible guide to the spectacular exposures of rocks and mountains in the Cape Town area. It is aimed at visitors and residents keen to understand how the scenic landscape surrounding them came about and what the rocks reveal of the recent as well as the 'deep' geological history of the area. In scope it covers both the large-scale features of the region as observed from space and particular features that can be seen up close on the ground. While the emphasis is on the greater Cape Town area, other popular areas of the Western Cape within easy access of Cape Town are also included. The book is intended to get us looking at and thinking about our environment from a new perspective so that whether on our daily commute to work or out for a hike, we may understand it better and derive greater pleasure from being part of it.
John S. Compton is an associate professor in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Cape Town He received his doctorate in Earth Sciences from Harvard University in 1986, taught marine geology at the University of South Florida from 1986to-1996 and has been at the University of Cape Town since 1996. He has published over 40 papers in scientific journals on various aspects of geology.
Whether you are approaching Cape Town from a ship at sea, descending to land in an aircraft or driving in along one of the national motor routes, Table Mountain makes the first and most striking announcement of your arrival. What makes Table Mountain so impressive is the near-vertical relief of over 1000 m as it rises from the sea to a top that from most approaches looks nearly flat, as if a large block of Earth had popped up from below (Fig. 3). In strong contrast, and emphasising the flat mountain top, are the nearby Devil's Peak to the east and the rounded knob of Lion's Head, separated from Table Mountain by the deep Kloofnek saddle. Once you are in Cape Town, there are many good vantage points for viewing the surrounding landforms (Fig. 4). Most of these viewpoints are easily reached by car, such as the top of Signal Hill, Tafelberg Road beyond the cableway station, Rhodes Memorial above Rondebosch, or Bloubergstrand with its overviews of Table Mountain across Table Bay. But the best views are to be had from outside the car, and there are many hiking trails at all levels of altitude and difficulty within easy reach of Cape Town, from which to take in the scenery. You can reach the top of Table Mountain by following any number of trails in a vigorous and steep three-to four-hour hike or by taking a quick trip up the cableway. And the one- to two-hour hike to the top of Lion's Head is popular for watching the sunset, followed by a moonlit descent after a full moon has risen over the mountains to the east (Fig. 5). From many of these viewing sites, you can see more distant but equally striking features. On a clear day the view to the east of Cape Town out across the Cape Flats reveals the Hottentots Holland as well as other mountain ranges (Fig. 6), whose highest peaks of 2 200 m are occasionally powdered with snow after a winter front. Lying east-northeast from Cape Town, in the foreground of the distant mountains, are the gently rolling hills of Tygerberg and Bottelaryberg, with the more distant but notable hills of Koeberg and Blouberg situated to the west (Fig. l). Hills similar to the Tygerberg also form the foothills that butt up against many of the cliff-faced mountains: Signal Hill and Mowbray Ridge surrounding the City Bowl, for example, as well as many of the vineyards surrounding Stellenbosch. Looking south from the top of Table Mountain, you can see spectacular rock-cliff exposures stretching down the length of the Cape Peninsula. These mountain cliff-face exposures, impressive even at a distance, can be viewed up close along the roads that encircle the Cape Peninsula or on the wine routes of Stellenbosch and Franschhoek to the northeast. In contrast to and accentuating the steep mountain terrains are the Cape Flats, the low-lying expanse of land that stretches between the mountains of the Cape Peninsula and the mountains to the east. And if you look north to the white arch of the beach of Table Bay, you can see Robben Island looking precariously flat as it rises only 30 m above the sea. The sea can also be seen further to the south at False Bay. It is easy to imagine the sea flooding the Cape Flats and cutting off the Cape Peninsula from the rest of Africa to form a large offshore island, as it did during periods of higher sea level in the past. How did this diverse landscape of rocky, cliff-faced mountains, large, gently rolling hills and extensive flat lands come to be, and why do the landforms differ so strikingly one from the other? Did Table Mountain pop up from below or is it a resistant remnant that persisted after the surrounding rocks were worn away?
LOCATION MAP CHAPTER 1 Understanding the landscape CHAPTER 2 Reading the rocks CHAPTER 3 Living on the rocks GEOLOGICAL MAP
Adamastor Ocean 48, 50 |