GEORGE NEWS - A journey of geological discovery by the Wildlife Society of George on Saturday, lead the group over the Outeniqua mountains, through Meiringspoort and over the spectacular Swartberg Mountains on the pass built by Thomas Bain in 1883.

The self-drive tour proved to be a rare privilege, as the group were accompanied by three passionate (local former) geologists, Paul Rixom, Colin Ralston and Peter Ginn, who shared their knowledge on how the Southern Cape, and Klein Karoo mountains have been formed over eons of years.

The first upheaval was when the tectonic plates pushed up to begin the forming of the chain of mountains that stretching from east to west took place when the continental drift began breaking up Gondwanaland.
At the bottom of the Karoo lies the Dwyka Series, a layer of 900 metres thick and consisting of pebbles, boulders and rocks, which have engraved on their surfaces the typical scars and groves of glacial activity (the glaciation took place during Carboniferous to Permian time). The mud-stone (Enon conglomerates), appears to be the debris left behind by an ice age. After this profound cold came a warmer weather. In the upper layers of the slimy mixture of melted ice, reptiles, fish, molluscs and plant leaves can be found. These were changed into a swamp and quagmire which formed the sandstones known as the Ecca Series. The third deposit of the Karoo System lies above the Ecca Series known as the Beaufort Series this is 5 600 metres thick and is rich in fossil reptiles, including dinosaurs and amphibious creatures with mammalian features.

At Meiringspoort the vertical and horizontal folding of the rocks is noticeable and the result of extreme water weathering. From the air the Karoo landscape the dolerite exposure resembles the Great Wall of China. the hard rock is known as dykes and appearing and vanishing unexpectedly.
The group were in awe of the dolerite caps which are still eroding away. At Klaarstroom the contrast were breathtaking and enigmatic. The Beaufort Group, Ecca Group and Dwyka Group are part of the Karoo Supergroup and the Witteberg Group, Bokkeveld Group and Table Mountain Group (Outeniqua mountains) are part of the Cape Supergroup.

Article and photos: Pauline Lourens


A great way to start a tour is to have a cup of tea and a tasting of wine. Here Wildlife Society members are seen on the verandah of Domein Doornkraal which proved to be an excellent meeting spot near De Rust before setting off for a stop in Meiringspoort.