Overview
    Identifiers
    Inventory Number
    3221BA2
    Site Name
    Geosite: Channel sandstone, Teekloof Pass
    Site Category
    References
    Date Retrieved
    Reference Types
    Other Publication
    Citation
    Cole, D.I. and Wickens, H. de V. (1998). Lower Karoo Supergroup: glacial, basinal and terrestrial environments in the southwestern part of the main Karoo basin. Guidebook 10th Gondwana Conference, University of Cape Town, South Africa, No. Pr 1, 77p.
    Reference Types
    Other Publication
    Citation
    Geological Survey (1983). Geological map of Sheet 3220 Sutherland (scale 1:250 000). Publication, Geological Survey of South Africa.
    Record Administration
    Author
    doug.cole
    Last modified
    Thursday, May 2, 2024 - 18:19
      Location
      Location
      Mapping
      -32.179077, 21.626042
      Northern Cape
      • Namakwa
      • Karoo Hoogland
      Grading
      Grading
      Grade IIIb
      Grading Date
      GradingComment

      Geosite covering a channel sandstone incised into mudstone in Teekloof Pass. Exposures of complete channel sandstones are rare and this sandstone displays several structures including cutbanks and overstepping "wings". The geosite is easily accessible being located at the base of a cliff next to the R353 regional road and should be classified as a local heritage site. However, the mudstone beneath the sandstone and part of the sandstone have been covered with concrete (shotcrete) to stabilise the base of the cliff next to the road. Grading by: DOUG COLE

      Significance criteria
      Sphere of Significance
      Local
      Level
      Medium
      Significance Categories
      Sphere of Significance
      Local
      Level
      Medium
      Statement of Significance

      The sandstone is 200 metres wide and up to 4 metres thick and has a well-exposed channel bank on the northern side. The channel is filled with five vertically-stacked sandstone lenses and is capped with overstepping "wing" sandstones up to one metre thick. It has been interpreted as a distributary or crevasse channel-fill deposit, which incised into coherent mud of a floodplain origin. Fossilised skeletons of therapsid or mammal-like reptiles support a terrestrial environment. The mudstone-dominated succession in Teekloof Pass forms the Hoedemaker Member of the Teekloof Formation. The underlying sandstone-rich Poortjie Member occurs near the base of the pass and the overlying sandstone-rich Oukloof Member caps the pass some 2 km to the north.

      Media
      Images uploaded directly to Site