Originally published as:Kounov, A., Niedermann, S., Viola, G., Andreoli, M., Erzinger, J. (2007)
IntroductionSince the break-up of Gondwana, Southern Africa has been surrounded by elevated passive margins flanked by a classic escarpment (King, 1951;1967). The evolution of passive continental margins and their adjacent escarpments reflects the long-term interaction of tectonic and surface processes. It is now known that passive margin morphology is the result of positive and negative feedback between tectonic uplift and subsidence on the one hand and sedimentation and denudation on the other hand (Beaumont et al., 2000).Apatite fission track and cosmogenic nuclide studies along the escarpment-flanked continental margin of Southern Africa have recently revealed variable denudation rates for various morphological features of the passive margin, including its coastal plain, the seaward-facing escarpment and the elevated inland plateau (e.g. Fleming et al., 1999;Cockburn et al., 2000;Brown et al., 2000;Bierman and Caffee, 2001; Van der Wateren and Dunai, 2001;Brown et al., 2002;Raab et al., 2002;Bierman and Nichols, 2004;Tinker, 2005; Tinker et al., in review; Kounov et al., in review). These studies suggest that since the onset of the rifting phase, significant changes in denudation rates have occurred, in particular a substantial decrease when Cenozoic rates are compared to those for the Cretaceous. The high denudation rates during the Cretaceous are likely related to intense tectonic activity coupled with warm and humid climatic conditions, whereas the more arid climate that prevailed during the Quaternary and possibly throughout much of the Tertiary, and an apparent lack of significant uplift, were responsible for a remarkable subsequent decrease in the denudation African coastal escarpment and the interior plateau provide valuable estimates of the short-term (i.e., a few hundred thousand years) denudation rates. Present-day denudation rates at the summit of the escarpment and on the inland plateau are more than an order of magnitude lower than those in the Cretaceous. Values between 1.0 and 2.1 m/Ma obtained from resistant quartzite samples and between 1.5 and 3 m/Ma from dolerite sills suggest a strong lithology control on the erosion. The observed patterns of denudation across different landform sites on the high plateau and along its flanking escarpment suggest that the morphology of the sampling sites together with the local climate conditions have controlled the denudation processes.