The Ordovician System of South Africa : a review
(2023) In Geological Society Special Publication 533. p.175-197- Abstract
Outcrops of the Ordovician System in South Africa are extensive; they cover significant portions of the Northern, Western and Eastern Cape provinces as part of the Cape Fold Belt as well as the KwaZulu-Natal Province as supracrustal cover overlying the Natal sector of the Paleoproterozoic Namaqua-Natal metamorphic province. Within the Cape Fold Belt, Ordovician rocks of the Table Mountain Group (Piekenierskloof, Graafwater, Peninsula, Pakhuis and Cedarberg formations as well as the enigmatic Sardinia Bay Formation) outcrop extensively whilst pre-Cape rocks of the Kansa Group (Vaartwell, Uitvlug, Gezwinds Kraal and Schoongezigt formations) and Schoemanspoort Formation are present within the Kango Inlier encapsulated by the fold belt. The... (More)
Outcrops of the Ordovician System in South Africa are extensive; they cover significant portions of the Northern, Western and Eastern Cape provinces as part of the Cape Fold Belt as well as the KwaZulu-Natal Province as supracrustal cover overlying the Natal sector of the Paleoproterozoic Namaqua-Natal metamorphic province. Within the Cape Fold Belt, Ordovician rocks of the Table Mountain Group (Piekenierskloof, Graafwater, Peninsula, Pakhuis and Cedarberg formations as well as the enigmatic Sardinia Bay Formation) outcrop extensively whilst pre-Cape rocks of the Kansa Group (Vaartwell, Uitvlug, Gezwinds Kraal and Schoongezigt formations) and Schoemanspoort Formation are present within the Kango Inlier encapsulated by the fold belt. The Natal Group (Durban and Mariannhill formations) is entirely located within KwaZulu-Natal. For the most part, these metasiliciclastic rocks are markedly unfossiliferous except for the world class fossil deposits of the Cedarberg Formation and important trace fossil sites in the Graafwater, Peninsula and Pakhuis formations. The lack of palaeontological material and other accurate geochronological proxies in these successions (as well as those of the Kansa and Natal groups and Schoemanspoort Formation) makes estimations of relative age constraints tenuous at best and difficult to correlate with global Ordovician chronostratigraphic frameworks. Regardless of the challenges faced in correlating these rocks within global frameworks, these rocks provide a unique low latitude glimpse into Earth surface processes and the feedback loops that ensued within the biological realm along the southern margin of Gondwana.
(Less)
- author
- Penn-Clarke, C. R. ; Browning, C. and Harper, D. A.T. LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2023
- type
- Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
- publication status
- published
- subject
- host publication
- Geological Society Special Publication
- series title
- Geological Society Special Publication
- volume
- 533
- pages
- 23 pages
- publisher
- Geological Society of London
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85185465253
- ISSN
- 0305-8719
- DOI
- 10.1144/SP533-2022-23
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 5c448cc2-c5ce-44fc-9509-6db36a09ae60
- date added to LUP
- 2024-03-19 11:59:10
- date last changed
- 2024-03-19 11:59:42
@inbook{5c448cc2-c5ce-44fc-9509-6db36a09ae60,
abstract = {{<p>Outcrops of the Ordovician System in South Africa are extensive; they cover significant portions of the Northern, Western and Eastern Cape provinces as part of the Cape Fold Belt as well as the KwaZulu-Natal Province as supracrustal cover overlying the Natal sector of the Paleoproterozoic Namaqua-Natal metamorphic province. Within the Cape Fold Belt, Ordovician rocks of the Table Mountain Group (Piekenierskloof, Graafwater, Peninsula, Pakhuis and Cedarberg formations as well as the enigmatic Sardinia Bay Formation) outcrop extensively whilst pre-Cape rocks of the Kansa Group (Vaartwell, Uitvlug, Gezwinds Kraal and Schoongezigt formations) and Schoemanspoort Formation are present within the Kango Inlier encapsulated by the fold belt. The Natal Group (Durban and Mariannhill formations) is entirely located within KwaZulu-Natal. For the most part, these metasiliciclastic rocks are markedly unfossiliferous except for the world class fossil deposits of the Cedarberg Formation and important trace fossil sites in the Graafwater, Peninsula and Pakhuis formations. The lack of palaeontological material and other accurate geochronological proxies in these successions (as well as those of the Kansa and Natal groups and Schoemanspoort Formation) makes estimations of relative age constraints tenuous at best and difficult to correlate with global Ordovician chronostratigraphic frameworks. Regardless of the challenges faced in correlating these rocks within global frameworks, these rocks provide a unique low latitude glimpse into Earth surface processes and the feedback loops that ensued within the biological realm along the southern margin of Gondwana.</p>}},
author = {{Penn-Clarke, C. R. and Browning, C. and Harper, D. A.T.}},
booktitle = {{Geological Society Special Publication}},
issn = {{0305-8719}},
language = {{eng}},
pages = {{175--197}},
publisher = {{Geological Society of London}},
series = {{Geological Society Special Publication}},
title = {{The Ordovician System of South Africa : a review}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1144/SP533-2022-23}},
doi = {{10.1144/SP533-2022-23}},
volume = {{533}},
year = {{2023}},
}