Sandveld

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The Sandveld is a narrow, sparsely populated strip of land in South Africa between the West Coast and Swartland districts , from Hopefield in the south to Lutzville in the north. The climate and vegetation are very similar to those of the West Coast District . Another consideration is the area between the mouth of the Cape Olifants River and False Bay . The landscape name Strandveld is common north of the Groot Berg River .

To the east, the Sandveld borders the Swartland hill relief. Shifting dunes shape the landscape at Cape Columbine, which extends up to 60 kilometers inland. It reaches its smallest extent with only 5 kilometers width at Bloubergstrand on Table Bay . At Mamre and Darling , some arched granite peaks emerge from the sand landscape, below which the Dassenberg appears as the highest elevation at 568 meters. Between St. Helenabaai and Saldanha Bay , the granite massif of Vredenburg-Langebaan forms cliffs up to 260 meters high, in places with a steep slope towards the coast. Otherwise, only a few cliffs of the Table Mountain sandstone protrude up to a maximum of 30 meters above the flat sandy areas of the coast. The almost continuously blowing wind from the south and south-east resulted in sand dunes up to 10 kilometers inland in the Cape Flats .

The Langebaan Lagoon and the granite peninsula of the same name also belong to the Sandveld region . It is crossed by dunes between 30 and 60 meters high. The sea bird colonies have deposited considerable layers of guano on the granite surfaces . The north of the Sandveld has very few watercourses or dry rivers . Over a length of 120 kilometers between the mouth of the Cape Olifants River and the St. Helenabaai , only five dry river beds cross the coastal strip with its sparse vegetation and high dune zones. Even in the rainy winter time, these rivers only come off episodically. The northernmost of them, the Sand Leegte , even shows only a singular water flow . According to a finding by the Department of Water Affairs in 1957, there had been no water coming off in the middle and lower reaches for 20 years.

Similar to the Namaqualand, carpets of flowers cover the tanned land in spring in the summer.

The region's economy is mainly based on agriculture (cattle, sheep, wheat and vegetables). Around 14 percent of South African seed potatoes are harvested here.

Web links

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  1. ↑ a b c Traugott Molter: Water balance and irrigation agriculture in the Cape . Franz Steiner Verlag , Wiesbaden 1966, pp. 13–15
  2. ^ Board of Directors of Potatoes South Africa

Coordinates: 32 ° 30 ′ 0 ″  S , 18 ° 25 ′ 0 ″  E