Overview
Identifiers
References
Record Administration
Location
Location
- Namakwa
- Karoo Hoogland
Gradings
Grading
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
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.