Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
    • Series home
    • Lyell Collection home
    • Geological Society home
  • Content
    • Online First
    • Current volume
    • All volumes
    • All collections
    • Supplementary publications
    • Open Access
  • Subscribe
    • GSL fellows
    • Institutions
    • Corporate
    • Other member types
  • Info
    • Authors
    • Librarians
    • Readers
    • Access for GSL Fellows
    • Access for other member types
    • Press office
    • Accessibility
    • Help
  • Alert sign up
    • RSS feeds
    • Newsletters
  • Propose
  • Geological Society of London Publications
    • Engineering Geology Special Publications
    • Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis
    • Journal of Micropalaeontology
    • Journal of the Geological Society
    • Lyell Collection home
    • Memoirs
    • Petroleum Geology Conference Series
    • Petroleum Geoscience
    • Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society
    • Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology
    • Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society
    • Scottish Journal of Geology
    • Special Publications
    • Transactions of the Edinburgh Geological Society
    • Transactions of the Geological Society of Glasgow
    • Transactions of the Geological Society of London

User menu

  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Geological Society, London, Special Publications
  • Geological Society of London Publications
    • Engineering Geology Special Publications
    • Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis
    • Journal of Micropalaeontology
    • Journal of the Geological Society
    • Lyell Collection home
    • Memoirs
    • Petroleum Geology Conference Series
    • Petroleum Geoscience
    • Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society
    • Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology
    • Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society
    • Scottish Journal of Geology
    • Special Publications
    • Transactions of the Edinburgh Geological Society
    • Transactions of the Geological Society of Glasgow
    • Transactions of the Geological Society of London
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart
  • Follow gsl on Twitter
  • Visit gsl on Facebook
  • Visit gsl on Youtube
  • Visit gsl on Linkedin
Geological Society, London, Special Publications

Advanced search

  • Home
    • Series home
    • Lyell Collection home
    • Geological Society home
  • Content
    • Online First
    • Current volume
    • All volumes
    • All collections
    • Supplementary publications
    • Open Access
  • Subscribe
    • GSL fellows
    • Institutions
    • Corporate
    • Other member types
  • Info
    • Authors
    • Librarians
    • Readers
    • Access for GSL Fellows
    • Access for other member types
    • Press office
    • Accessibility
    • Help
  • Alert sign up
    • RSS feeds
    • Newsletters
  • Propose

Denudation along the Atlantic passive margin: new insights from apatite fission-track analysis on the western coast of South Africa

A. Kounov, G. Viola, M. de Wit and M. A. G. Andreoli
Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 324, 287-306, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP324.19
A. Kounov
1Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Basel University, 4056 Basel, Switzerland
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: [email protected]
G. Viola
2NGU, Geological Survey of Norway, 7491 Trondheim, Norway
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Search for this author on this site
M. de Wit
3AEON and Department of Geological Sciences, UCT, 7701 Rondebosch, South Africa
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Search for this author on this site
M. A. G. Andreoli
4South African Nuclear Energy Corporation, PO Box 582, 0001 Pretoria, South Africa, and School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, 2050 Wits, South Africa
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Search for this author on this site
PreviousNext
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

Apatite fission-track (AFT) data from two traverses across the Great Escarpment of the western coast of South Africa are used to reconstruct the tectonic evolution and denudation history of this sector of the Atlantic passive margin. Fission-track ages range between 180 and 86 Ma. Modelling of this data identifies two distinct cooling events. The first event, between 160 and 138 Ma, is recorded only by the rocks above the escarpment in the Karoo area, and is tentatively linked to post-Karoo magmatism (c. 180 Ma) thermal relaxation. The second, between 115 and 90 Ma, results instead from a tectonically induced denudation episode responsible for the removal of up to 2.5 km of crust across the coastal zone in front of the escarpment and less than 1 km on the elevated interior plateau. Based on these results, it is suggested that the Cretaceous is the time when most of the elevated topography of Southern Africa was generated, with only a minor Cenozoic contribution.

  • © Geological Society of London 2009
View Full Text

Please note that if you are logged into the Lyell Collection and attempt to access content that is outside of your subscription entitlement you will be presented with a new login screen. You have the option to pay to view this content if you choose. Please see the relevant links below for further assistance.

INDIVIDUALS

Log in using your username and password

– GSL fellows: log in with your Lyell username and password. (Please check your access entitlements at https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/fellowsaccess)
– Other users: log in with the username and password you created when you registered. Help for other users is at https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/lyellcollection_faqs
Forgot your username or password?

Purchase access

You may purchase access to this article for 24 hours and download the PDF within the access period. This will require you to create an account if you don't already have one. To download the PDF, click the 'Purchased Content' link in the receipt email.

LIBRARY USERS

Log in through your institution

You may be able to gain access using your login credentials for your institution. Contact your library if you do not have a username and password.
If your organization uses OpenAthens, you can log in using your OpenAthens username and password. To check if your institution is supported, please see this list. Contact your library for more details.
If you think you should have access, please contact your librarian or email [email protected]

LIBRARIANS

Administer your subscription.

CONTACT US

If you have any questions about the Lyell Collection publications website, please see the access help page or contact [email protected]

PreviousNext
Back to top

In this volume

Geological Society, London, Special Publications: 324 (1)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications
Volume 324
2009
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • About the Cover
  • Index by author
  • Back Matter (PDF)
  • Front Matter (PDF)
Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Citation tools

Denudation along the Atlantic passive margin: new insights from apatite fission-track analysis on the western coast of South Africa

A. Kounov, G. Viola, M. de Wit and M. A. G. Andreoli
Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 324, 287-306, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP324.19
A. Kounov
1Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Basel University, 4056 Basel, Switzerland
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: [email protected]
G. Viola
2NGU, Geological Survey of Norway, 7491 Trondheim, Norway
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
M. de Wit
3AEON and Department of Geological Sciences, UCT, 7701 Rondebosch, South Africa
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
M. A. G. Andreoli
4South African Nuclear Energy Corporation, PO Box 582, 0001 Pretoria, South Africa, and School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, 2050 Wits, South Africa
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Permissions
View PDF
Share

Denudation along the Atlantic passive margin: new insights from apatite fission-track analysis on the western coast of South Africa

A. Kounov, G. Viola, M. de Wit and M. A. G. Andreoli
Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 324, 287-306, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP324.19
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
Email to

Thank you for sharing this Geological Society, London, Special Publications article.

NOTE: We request your email address only to inform the recipient that it was you who recommended this article, and that it is not junk mail. We do not retain these email addresses.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Denudation along the Atlantic passive margin: new insights from apatite fission-track analysis on the western coast of South Africa
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from Geological Society, London, Special Publications
(Your Name) thought you would be interested in this article in Geological Society, London, Special Publications.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Print
Download PPT
Bookmark this article
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One
  • Article
    • Abstract
    • The western margin of South Africa
    • Apatite fission-track analysis
    • Discussion
    • Conclusions
    • Acknowledgments
    • References
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF

Related Articles

Similar Articles

Cited By...

  • Most read
  • Most cited
Loading
  • The history of the European oil and gas industry (1600s–2000s)
  • Himalayan earthquakes: a review of historical seismicity and early 21st century slip potential
  • Introduction to Himalayan tectonics: a modern synthesis
  • Seismic characterization of carbonate platforms and reservoirs: an introduction and review
  • An introduction to forensic soil science and forensic geology: a synthesis
More...

Special Publications

  • About the series
  • Books Editorial Committee
  • Submit a book proposal
  • Author information
  • Supplementary Publications
  • Subscribe
  • Pay per view
  • Copyright & Permissions
  • Activate Online Subscription
  • Feedback
  • Help

Lyell Collection

  • About the Lyell Collection
  • Lyell Collection homepage
  • Collections
  • Open Access Collection
  • Open Access Policy
  • Lyell Collection access help
  • Recommend to your Library
  • Lyell Collection Sponsors
  • MARC records
  • Digital preservation
  • Developing countries
  • Geofacets
  • Manage your account
  • Cookies

The Geological Society

  • About the Society
  • Join the Society
  • Benefits for Members
  • Online Bookshop
  • Publishing policies
  • Awards, Grants & Bursaries
  • Education & Careers
  • Events
  • Geoscientist Online
  • Library & Information Services
  • Policy & Media
  • Society blog
  • Contact the Society

Published by The Geological Society of London, registered charity number 210161

Print ISSN 
0305-8719
Online ISSN 
2041-4927

Copyright © 2022 Geological Society of London