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3 - A continental-scale perspective on landscape evolution in southern Africa during the Cenozoic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2016

By
Jasper Knight  and
Stefan W. Grab
Edited by
Jasper Knight  and
Stefan W. Grab
Jasper Knight
Affiliation:
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Stefan W. Grab
Affiliation:
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
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Summary

Abstract

The evolution of southern Africa during the Cenozoic (last 66 Ma) results from the interplay between regional-scale tectonic and climatic processes, and complex geomorphic feedbacks and responses that give rise to variations in preservation and denudation of the land surface. As such, this history of landscape evolution reflects a classic forcing–response model that is typical of many different geomorphological systems. In detail, however, the timescales and feedbacks are poorly known, and the palimpsest nature of land surface features (supported by evidence from radiometric dating) shows that the operation of these processes across southern Africa is not spatially uniform, which has not been previously discussed. The climatic and land surface feedbacks associated with mantle swells and periods of Cenozoic rifting and earlier Mesozoic volcanism are also uncertain. These are important future research challenges.

Type
Chapter
Information
Quaternary Environmental Change in Southern Africa
Physical and Human Dimensions
 , pp. 30 - 46
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2016

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