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The Drakensberg (: uKhahlamba, : Maloti, : Drakensberge) is the eastern portion of the Great Escarpment, which encloses the central Southern African plateau. The Great Escarpment reaches its greatest elevation – within the border region of and .

The Drakensberg escarpment stretches for more than from the in the South, then successively forms, in order from south to north, the border between and the and the border between Lesotho and . Thereafter it forms the border between KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State, and next as the border between KwaZulu-Natal and . The escarpment winds north from there, through , where it includes features such as the Blyde River Canyon, , and God's Window. It then extends farther north to in southeastern where it is known as 'Klein Drakensberg' by the . From Hoedspruit it extends west to , also in , where it is known as the and Iron Crown Mountain. At above sea level, the Wolkberg is the highest elevation in Limpopo. The escarpment extends west again and at it is known as the Strydpoort Mountains. Encyclopædia Britannica (1975); Micropaedia Vol. III, p. 655. Helen Hemingway Benton Publishers, Chicago.


Etymology
The name Drakensberge comes from the name the earliest settlers gave to the escarpment, namely Drakensbergen, or Dragons' Mountains. The highest portion of the Great Escarpment is known in as uKhahlamba and as Maloti in ("Barrier of up-pointed spears").
(1973). 9780869780503, H. Timmins. .


Geology

Origins
The Great Escarpment is composed of steep walls formed around a bulging of continental crust during the breakup of southern that have since eroded inland from their original positions near the southern African coast, and its entire eastern portion (see the accompanying map) constitutes the Drakensberg.
(1999). 9780007419135, Times Books. .
(2025). 9781770071483, Penguin Random House South Africa. .
The Drakensberg terminate in the north near Tzaneen at about the 22° S parallel. The absence of the Great Escarpment for approximately to the north of Tzaneen (to reappear on the border between and in the Chimanimani Mountains) is due to a failed westerly branch of the main rift that caused to start drifting away from southern Africa during the breakup of Gondwana about 150 million years ago. The lower and Save River drain into the through what remains of this relict incipient rift valley, which now forms part of the South African Lowveld.

During the past 20 million years, southern Africa has experienced massive uplifting, especially in the east, with the result that most of the plateau lies above despite extensive erosion. The plateau is tilted such that it is highest in the east and slopes gently downward toward the west and south. Typically, the elevation of the edge of the eastern escarpments is in excess of . It reaches its highest point of over where the escarpment forms part of the international border between and the South African province of .


Appearance
The escarpment seen from below resembles a range of mountains. The Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and Lesotho Drakensberg have hard erosion-resistant upper surfaces and therefore have a very rugged appearance, combining steep-sided blocks and pinnacles (giving rise to the Zulu name "Barrier of up-pointed spears"). Who first gave these mountains their Afrikaans or Dutch name Drakensberg, and why, is unknown. The KwaZulu-Natal – Free State Drakensberg are composed of softer rocks and therefore have a more rounded, softer appearance from below. Generally, the top of the escarpment is almost table-top flat and smooth, even in Lesotho. The "Lesotho Mountains" are formed away from the Drakensberg escarpment by erosion gulleys which turn into deep valleys containing tributaries of the . The large number of such tributaries give the Lesotho Highlands a very rugged mountainous appearance, both from the ground and from the air.

The higher parts of Drakensberg have a mildly . It is possible that recent has diminished the intensity of periglaciation.

Knight and Grab mapped out the distribution of lightning strikes in the Drakensburg and discovered that lightning significantly controls the evolution of the mountain landscapes because it helps to shape the summit areas – the highest areas – with this blasting effect. Previously, angular debris was presumed to have been created by changes typical of cold, periglacial environments, such as fracturing due to frost.


Composition
The geological composition of Drakensberg (escarpment wall) varies considerably along its more than 1000 km length. The Limpopo and Mpumalanga Drakensberg are capped by an erosion resistant quartzite layer that is part of the Transvaal Supergroup, which also forms the to the north and northwest of Pretoria. These rocks are more than 2000 million years old. South of the 26°S parallel the Drakensberg escarpment is composed of , which belong to the , and they are 300 million years old. Geological map of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland (1970). Council for Geoscience, Geological Survey of South Africa. The portion of the Drakensberg that forms the KwaZulu-Natal – Free State border is formed by slightly younger (250 million years old) that also are part of the Karoo Supergroup.

The Ecca and Beaufort groups are composed of sedimentary rocks that are less erosion resistant than the other rocks that make up the Drakensberg escarpment. Therefore, this portion of escarpment is not so impressive as the Mpumalanga and Lesotho stretches of the Drakensberg. The Drakensberg that form the northeastern and eastern borders of Lesotho, as well as the Eastern Cape Drakensberg, are composed of a thick layer of basalt (lava) that erupted 180 million years ago. That layer rests on the youngest of the Karoo Supergroup sediments, the , which was laid down under desert conditions, about 200 million years ago.


Geography

Peaks
The highest peak is Thabana Ntlenyana, at . Other notable peaks include (), at , at , at , Giant's Castle at , Ben Macdhui at , and at , all of these are in the area bordering on Lesotho, which contains an area popular for hikers, Cathedral Peak. North of Lesotho the range becomes lower and less rugged until entering Mpumalanga where the quartzite mountains of the Transvaal Drakensberg are loftier and more broken and they form the eastern rim of the Transvaal Basin, the Blyde River Canyon lying within this stretch. The geology of this section is the same as, and continuous with, that of the .


Mountain passes

Ecology
The high treeless peaks of the Drakensberg (from upward) have been described by the World Wide Fund for Nature as the Drakensberg alti-montane grasslands and woodlands . These steep slopes are the most southerly high mountains in Africa, and being farther from the equator provide cooler habitats at lower elevations than most mountain ranges on the continent. High rainfall generates many mountain streams and rivers, including the sources of the , southern Africa's longest, and the .

These mountains also have the world's highest waterfall, the (Thukela Falls), which has a total drop of (Venezuela's Angel Falls is also a candidate for highest waterfall). The rivers that run from the Drakensberg are an essential resource for South Africa's economy, providing water for the industrial provinces of Mpumalanga and , which contains the city of . The climate is wet and cool at the high elevations, which experience snowfall in winter.

The grassy lower slopes (from ) of the Drakensberg in , South Africa and Lesotho constitute the Drakensberg montane grasslands, woodlands, and forests ecoregion.


Flora
The mountains are rich in plant life, including a large number of species listed in the Red Data Book of threatened plants, with 119 species listed as globally endangered and "of the 2 153 plant species in the park, a remarkable 98 are endemic or near-endemic".

The flora of the high alti-montane grasslands is mainly , creeping plants, and small shrubs such as ericas. These include the rare Spiral Aloe (), which as its name suggests, has leaves with a spiral shape.

Meanwhile, the lower slopes are mainly grassland, but are also home to , which are rare in Africa, the species of conifer found in the Drakensberg belong to the genus . The grassland is of interest as it contains a great number of plants. Grasses found here include oat grass Monocymbium ceresiiforme, filifolius, centrifugus, caterpillar grass (), dieterlenii, and .

In the highest part of Drakensberg the composition of the flora is independent on (direction) and varies, depending on the hardness of the rock clasts. This hardness is related to and is variable even within a single .


Fauna
The Drakensberg area is "home to 299 recorded bird species"' making up "37% of all non-marine avian species in southern Africa". There are 24 species of snakes in the Drakensberg, two of which are highly venomous.
(1983). 9780949966452, The Natal Branch of the Wildlife Society of Southern Africa.

One bird is endemic to the high peaks, the (Anthus hoeschi), and another six species are found mainly here: (Lioptilus nigricapillus), buff-streaked chat (Oenanthe bifasciata), Rudd's lark (Heteromirafra ruddi), Drakensberg rockjumper (Chaetops aurantius), yellow-breasted pipit (Anthus chloris), and Drakensberg siskin (Serinus symonsi). The endangered and are two of the birds of prey that hunt in the mountains. Mammals include (Oreotragus oreotragus), (Taurotragus oryx), and mountain reedbuck (Redunca fulvorufula). Other endemic species include three frogs found in the mountain streams, Drakensberg river frog (Amietia dracomontana), Phofung river frog (Amietia vertebralis), and Maluti river frog (Amietia umbraculata). Fish are found in the many rivers and streams, including the ( Pseudobarbus quathlambae) that was thought to be extinct before being found in the in Lesotho.

(2025). 9781775843498, Penguin Random House South Africa. .

The lower slopes of the Drakensberg support much wildlife, perhaps most importantly the rare southern (which was nurtured here when facing extinction) and the ( Connochaetes gnou, which only thrives in protected areas and game reserves). The area is home to large herds of grazing fauna and antelopes such as (Taurotragus oryx), (Redunca arundinum), mountain reedbuck (Redunca fulvorufula), (Pelea capreolus), and even some (Ourebia ourebi). also are present. Endemic species include a large number of and other reptiles. There is one endemic frog, the forest rain frog (Breviceps sylvestris), and four more species that are found mainly in these mountains; long-toed tree frog (Leptopelis xenodactylus), plaintive rain frog (Breviceps maculatus), rough rain frog (Breviceps verrucosus), and Poynton's caco (Cacosternum poyntoni).


Conservation
The high slopes are hard to reach so the environment is fairly undamaged. However, tourism in the Drakensberg is developing, with a variety of hiking trails, hotels, and resorts appearing on the slopes. Much of the higher South African parts of the range have been designated as or . 7% of the Drakensberg alti-montane grasslands and woodlands ecoregion is in protected areas. These include Golden Gate Highlands National Park, Sehlabathebe National Park, Tsehlanyane National Park, Malekgalonyane Nature Reserve, Giant's Castle Game Reserve, Loteni Nature Reserve, Natal National Park, Vergelegen Nature Reserve, Beaumont Nature Reserve, and Lammergeier Highlands Nature Reserve."Drakensberg alti-montane grasslands and woodlands". DOPA Explorer. Accessed 20 April 2022. [1]

Of these the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park was listed by in 2000 as a site. The park also is in the List of Wetlands of International Importance (under the Ramsar Convention). The Royal Natal National Park, which contains some of the higher peaks, is part of this large park complex. Adjacent to the Ukhahlamba Drakensberg World Heritage Site is the 1900 ha Allendale Mountain Reserve, which is the largest private reserve adjoining the World Heritage Site and is found in the accessible Kamberg area, the heart of the historic San (Bushman) painting region of the Ukhahlamba.

The grassland of the lower slopes has been greatly affected by agriculture, however, especially by . Nearly all of the original grassland and forest has disappeared and more protection is needed, although the Giant's Castle reserve is a haven for the and also is a breeding ground for the . 5.81% of the Drakensberg montane grasslands, woodlands and forests ecoregion is in protected areas. These include Kruger National Park, Mountain Zebra National Park, Golden Gate Highlands National Park, Camdeboo National Park, Sehlabathebe National Park, and Tsehlanyane National Park."Drakensberg montane grasslands, woodlands and forests". DOPA Explorer. Accessed 20 April 2022. [2]

The Maloti-Drakensberg Transfrontier Conservation Area was established to preserve some of the high mountain areas of the range.


Human habitation
Towns and cities in the Drakensberg area include, from south to north, Matatiele and in the Eastern Cape Province; Ladysmith, Newcastle, Ulundi – the former capital, Dundee, and Ixopo in KwaZulu-Natal; all of Lesotho, whose capital is ; and in .


San cave paintings
There are numerous caves in the easily eroded sandstone of Clarens Formation, the layer below the thick, hard basalt layer on the KwaZulu Natal-Lesotho border. Many of these caves have by the (Bushmen). This portion of the Drakensberg has between 35,000 and 40,000 works of San rock art, and is the largest collection of such parietal work in the world.

Some 20,000 individual rock paintings have been recorded at 500 different caves and overhanging sites between the Drakensberg Royal Natal National Park and Bushman's Nek. Due to the materials used in their production, these paintings are difficult to date, but there is anthropological evidence, including many hunting implements, that the San people existed in the Drakensberg at least 40,000 years ago, and possibly more than 100,000 years ago. According to mountainsides.co.za, "in Nd edema Gorge in the Central Ginsberg 3,900 paintings have been recorded at 17 sites. One of them, Sebaayeni Cave, contains 1,146 individual paintings." The website, south Africa.info, indicates that although "the oldest painting on a rock shelter wall in the Ginsberg dates back about 2400 years... paint chips at least a thousand years older have also been found." The site also indicates that "the rock art of the Drakensberg is the largest and most concentrated group of rock paintings in Africa south of the Sahara, and is outstanding both in quality and diversity of subject."


See also


Further reading

External links

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