Sedimentary facies from the Head of the Cape Canyon : insights into the Cenozoic evolution of the western margin of South Africa
Doctoral Thesis
2004
Permanent link to this Item
Authors
Journal Title
Link to Journal
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Publisher
University of Cape Town
Department
Faculty
License
Series
Abstract
Cenozoic sedimentary successions have a restricted distribution and are largely incomplete due to erosion and non-deposition on the western margin of southern Africa. For this reason, much controversy and uncertainty remains on the geological evolution of the western margin. The wide western margin is largely devoid of bathymetric features, except for the deeply incised Cape Canyon that crosscuts the continental slope and shelf ~150 km to the northwest of Cape Town. The Head of the Cape Canyon forms a well-developeed trough landwards of the Western Ridge, which separates the middle and outer shelf. More than 50 cores, up to 6 m in length, at water depths between 190 and 450 m were recovered from the Head of the Cape Canyon region. Siliclastic, authigenic and biogenic sediments, varying in age from Cretaceous to Holocene provide the basis of a detailed sedimentary analysis. The diversity of lithostratigraphic units recovered from the condensed sedimentary record provides a unique opportunity to define in detail, for the first time, a late Cenozoic stratigraphic record for the western outer continental shelf.
Description
Includes bibliographical references.
Keywords
Reference:
Wigley, R. 2004. Sedimentary facies from the Head of the Cape Canyon : insights into the Cenozoic evolution of the western margin of South Africa. University of Cape Town.