Pleistocene 'periglacial' phenomena in southern Africa |
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| Authors: | KARL W BUTZER |
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| Institution: | Departments of Anthropology and of Geography, The University of Chicago, chicago 60637. U.S.A. |
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| Abstract: | True 'periglacial' forms and deposits of late (and middle) Pleistocene age can be recognized in the Drakensberg and the adjacent parts of the Cape Province in the latitudinal zone 28° 30'-31°20' S; lower limits in the eastern Cape and Natal appear to lie near 1500–1800 m, rising from southwest to northeast, and at 2600 m in Lesotho. Significant nivation in the Drakensberg is also indicated, but at higher elevations. Alleged 'periglacial' phenomena in Rhodesia, the Transvaal, the Cape Folded Ranges and their coastal margin are not acceptable as such and include no evidence for cryonival or geliflual proceses. Nonetheless, there is bonafide evidence for several phases of accelerated Pleistocene frost-weathering, including sections of the Cape Coast that experience next to no frost today and would require a winter temperature depression of at least 10° C. It cannot be disputed that southern Africa has experienced cold, glacial-age climates, but there is a serious problem about many of the geomorphological observations or their interpretation. |
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