SOUTPANSBERG

The Soutpansberg is a prominent quartzite mountain range situated just north of the Tropic of Capricorn. It extends from the town of Vivo in the west to Punda Maria in the Kruger National Park in the east. The mountain forms a geological unit with the Makgabeng Plateau and Blouberg Mountain to the west of Vivo and with sandstone ridges that extend to the Limpopo Valley and across into Zimbabwe north of Pafuri in the Kruger National Park. The Soutpansberg (or Greater Soutpansberg) as referred to in this report includes all of these geological regions (see Fig. 1, below). The area extends in an east-west direction for about 210 km, with a width of up to 60 km and a surface area of 6 800 km 2. Moist maritime air blowing in from the Indian Ocean precipitates against the southern slopes of the mountains and dissipates in valleys and on the northern slopes thus creating a mosaic of climatic conditions varying from areas with an annual precipitation of over 2 000 mm to semi-desert conditions...

Primary location: Louis Trichardt South Africa