Cedar Mountains
| Cedar Mountains | ||
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 Wine-growing area |
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| location | Western Cape Province ( South Africa ) | |
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| Coordinates | 32 ° 19 ′ S , 18 ° 50 ′ E | |
The Zederberg mountains ( English Cederberg mountains , also Cedarberg mountains ) are a mountain range built mainly from table mountain sandstone 200 km north of Cape Town ( South Africa ), in the city triangle Clanwilliam , Wupperthal and Citrusdal . The cedar mountains belong to the fold mountain complex of the Cape fold belt .
The relief of the mountainous landscape forms a slight curve from south to north-north-west and can be seen as four almost parallel chains . The innermost (western) chain in the arch appears as a largely closed mountain range . It forms the eastern boundary of the Swartland landscape. This mountainous landscape begins in the south with the Limiet Mountains (1515 m) and the Elandskloof Mountains (1130 m). In the north it closes by the Olifants River Mountains (1310 m), which end flat west of Klawer . Over the entire course, the chains show the steeply sloping cliff-like slope to the west , which is a characteristic geomorphological feature of the table mountain sandstone. The foreland of this steep drop is a narrow zone with steeply sloping rivers that merges into Swartland.
The outer mountain ranges of the mountain arc do not have any continuous and connected ridge lines . The second ridge line begins with the Witzenberg (1520 m), followed by the Groot Winterhoek massif (2070 m) and the Cold Bokkeveld mountains (1800 m, Afrikaans : Koue Bokkeveld). The latter are traversed antecedently by the upper reaches of the Cape Olifants River . This second mountain line develops in the north to the Cedarberg Line, a landscape made up of the Skurfteberge (1840 m), Skurweberge (2080 m) and the Cedarberg chain system with the elevation of the Sneeuwberg (2020 m). The foothills in the northwest are called Pakhuisberge (1090 m) and Gifberge (580 m).
The mountains are known for their colorful carpets of flowers in spring (August / September) and their diverse vegetation from plant communities of the fynbos and the succulent caroo as well as for caves with historical rock carvings of the San .
Another specialty is the rooibos plant , which is grown almost exclusively in the Cederberg Mountains around the world and from which rooibos tea is made.
The nature reserve ( Wilderness Area ) of the Cedar Mountains extends from the Middelberg Pass near Citrusdal to north of the Pakhuis Pass near Clanwilliam and covers around 71,000 hectares. There are sometimes bizarre stone formations (for example the Maltese cross). The nature reserve has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the Cape Floral Region since 2004 .
Web links
- Cederberg Conservancy . on www.cederberg.co.za (English)
- Website of the park administration CapeNature (English; archive version )
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Traugott Molter: Water balance and irrigation agriculture in the Cape . Franz Steiner Verlag , Wiesbaden 1966, pp. 20-21
- ↑ Cederberg Conservancy: Khoisan Rock Art . on www.cederberg.co.za (English)
- ^ Cederberg Conservancy: Flora . on www.cederberg.co.za (English)
- ^ Cederberg Conservancy: Location . on www.cederberg.co.za (English)
