Geomorphology of the Cape Peninsula

• Main Author: King, Wilfred Basil
• Other Authors: Impey, L L H
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English; English
• Published: University of Cape Town 2017
• Subjects: Geography
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/23262

It is axiomatic that we live in a world characterized by opposites. We are thus aware of day and night, winter and summer, uplift and subsidence, lithosphere and hydrosphere, upland and lowland areas, past and present - the list is endless. This dichotomy or ambivalence is present in this study as well. On the one hand it attempts to trace the genesis and geornorphic history of the areal matrix, and on the other it looks at the contemporary landscape and the changes wrought through time. The writer is of the opinion that the past cannot be ignored, since the present physical landscape can be explained only in the context of geomorphic evolution. This is generally acceptable since today is tho child of yesterday and the father of tomorrow. Other aspects which are examined include evidence of changes wrought in the past in tho form of denudation or erosion surfaces, the relationship between the underlying geological structure and present landforms, together with the strong structural and directional control which is manifested within the study area. Present drainage patterns are examined, whilst the role played by running water and the sea in creating and changing the physical landscape is a theme which runs through the greater part of this dissertation.