Makuleke - Geological History

Geological History

The Makuleke region carries a remarkable geological and natural heritage that makes this region of interest to geographers and historians. Some rocks in the area have been dated to over 250 million years old. In the bottom of Lanner Gorge are rocks that appear to be of Permian age, which indicate that the then interior of Pangea was harsh and arid.

The rocks above the Permian ones are from the Triassic and date to between 248 million and 206 million years. Rocks of this age are found in the lower walls of Lanner Gorge and in these can be found fragments of bone and probably wood representing both holdovers from the Permian–Triassic extinction event event like glossopetrids (a type of tree) and dicynodonts (a form of mammal-like reptile), and new forms that would dominate the Mesozoic, including modern conifers, cycads and of course dinosaurs, such as Euskelosaurus.

Most of the sandstones in the Pafuri region however probably represent the great age of dinosaurs – the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods. During the early parts of the Jurassic, which lasted from approximately 210 million years ago until about 144 million years ago, the area was almost certainly extremely arid as is evidenced by the great sandstones of the region and the many dune and desert structures – such as desert roses – that are found preserved within the rocks of the region. In these sediments have been found the remains of early dinosaurs - possibly those of a species known as Massospondylus. It was also clearly a period of intense volcanism – with intrusive igneous rocks representing the ejected and intrusive molten matter from the interior of the Earth scattered about the region. The Jurassic was the age of great plant eating sauropods and smaller, carnivorous dinosaurs. This was the age of the origin of vertebrate flight with pterosaurs – flying dinosaurs - and the first birds appearing. The oceans themselves were full of a wide variety of life including many different types of fish, squids and ammonites – fossils of which are plentiful in the slightly younger rocks of the coastal regions to the southeast of the area. This was also a time of global upheaval as the World-continent of Pangea began to break up.

The Jurassic gives way to the Cretaceous Period in the upper rocks of the Makuleke area, and these are particularly evident in the North and East of the Pafuri. In these upper-most rocks - the region still seems to be dominated by deserts but these seem to give way to water born gravels that may indicate the emergence of the ancient Limpopo in the region. This is particularly evident in areas like Matule hill, where abundant gravels contain large and small bone fragments that appear to be those of medium-sized and small dinosaurs. Fossil wood typical of the Cretaceous flora have also been found in the rocks of the region. The Cretaceous Period lasted from about 144 million years ago until 65 million years when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event occurred. While the Cretaceous is often referred to as the end of the age of dinosaurs, many new lifeforms appeared. This is the age of Tyrannosaurus rex and the ceratopsian dinosaurs (armoured and horned dinosaurs like Triceratops). The abundant marine deposits of the North East coast of South Africa are of this age. There is also the hope of finding the rarest forms of vertebrates alive in this time period – the tiny mammals which would eventually dominate the planet after the Cretaceous extinction event.

The Cretaceous is followed by the Palaeogene Epoch – but this is apparently not well recorded in this region. The next sedimentary sequence is apparently just under two million years old – and comprises the Limpopo and Luvuvhu sands and gravels covering the lower parts of the region. The landscape today in the Makuleke has been largely carved out by the meanderings and erosional activities of the two rivers. The sandy soils are sediments that have been brought from hundreds if not thousands of kilometers away by the Luvuvhu and the Limpopo.