The Drakensberg Escarpment: Mountain Processes at the Edge

Abstract

The geologic history of the Great Escarpment, which includes within it the Drakensberg escarpment, closely follows cycles of tectonic evolution and land surface denudation from the Jurassic to Miocene that affected the entire southern African region. Along the Drakensberg escarpment, which includes some of the highest mountain summits in southern Africa, the presence of flat-lying Jurassic basalts has strongly influenced processes and patterns of subsequent weathering, erosion and mass movement, in particular during cooler climate periods of the Quaternary. Distinctive weathering, periglacial and glacial, mass movement and fluvial phenomena have resulted from this interplay between geology, climate and geomorphological processes over the Quaternary and Holocene. The Drakensberg escarpment region also shows a close interconnection between landscape geomorphology, biodiversity and patterns of human cultural occupation during the Holocene. For these reasons, conservation of geomorphological, ecological and cultural sites in the Drakensberg escarpment, and their sustainable management under conditions of climate change, is an important contemporary issue.