Storm Mountains
| Storm Mountains | ||
|---|---|---|
| location | Eastern Cape Province ( South Africa ) | |
|
||
| Coordinates | 31 ° 21 ′ S , 26 ° 32 ′ E | |
| rock | Sandstone | |
| Age of the rock | 230–183 million years | |
| particularities | Part of the great marginal step | |
The Storm Mountains ( Afrikaans ; also Stormberg; English: Stormberg Mountains or Stormberg Range ) are a mountain range in the South African province of Eastern Cape . It belongs to the large marginal step and rises to almost 2,200 meters above sea level.
geography
The mountain range lies in the interior of the Eastern Cape Province. In the narrower sense, it is a mountain range that, at around 1,500 to 2,169 meters above sea level, forms part of the Great Edge Step. Occasionally, however, the southern foothills of the Drakensberg, which is over 3,000 meters high, are counted among the Storm Mountains.
The Storm Mountains in the narrower sense extend in a west-east direction over about 80 kilometers and in a north-south direction over 20 kilometers. The name means "storm mountains". The mountain range continues to the west in the Bamboesberg massif, to the northeast it continues to rise and merge into the Drakensberg. The highest mountain is at 2,169 meters above sea level east of the city of Molteno . The highest road pass is the Penhoek Pass at 1,844 meters . The mountains are largely a high plateau with individual table mountains . The Stormberg River has its source at Molteno and flows north to the Oranje . The climate is semi-arid . In the village of Buffelsfontein in the Storm Mountains, the lowest outside temperature ever recorded in South Africa was recorded at –20.1 ° C.
The branch station Stormberg Junction, located north of the city of Molteno , was named after the mountain range . Dordrecht is located in the eastern part of the mountain range. The city of Jamestown lies north of the Stormberg Mountains , and Sterkstroom is immediately to the south .
geology
The geological formation Stormberg Group , which extends to the north of Lesotho, is named after the Storm Mountains . The formation - and with it the Storm Mountains - consists of sedimentary rocks , mainly sandstone , and was formed around 230 to 183 million years ago. It is the only formation in the Cape region that has significant deposits of hard coal .
history
In the middle of the 1850s, hard coal was first found in the Storm Mountains, for the extraction of which the area's infrastructure was expanded, including by founding the city of Molteno and building several railway lines. Stormberg Junction was occupied by British troops for strategic reasons before the beginning of the Second Boer War . Near the train station, the opposing Boers won the Battle of Stormberg on December 10, 1899 .
The former homeland Transkei had its westernmost point in the Storm Mountains.
Economy and Infrastructure
In Molteno, coal is mined.
In north-south direction, the N6 road runs over Penhoek's Pass through the mountains. The R 56 runs across it through the Storm Mountains. The tourist Stormberg Route leads from Molteno via Dordrecht and on through the foothills of the Drakensberg via Barkly East and Rhodes to Aliwal North .
An important railway line connects Bloemfontein and East London . It leads through Stormberg Junction, Molteno and Sterkstroom. From Stormberg Junction one route leads west to Middelburg , another route connects Sterkstroom with Dordrecht and continues eastwards to Maclear .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Description of the Stormberg Route (English), accessed on January 22, 2014
- ^ A b Philips' College Atlas for Southern Africa. George Philip & Son, London 1976, ISBN 0-540-05320-1 , p. 26.
- ↑ Report on weather.co.za (English, PDF), accessed on January 22, 2014
- ↑ Gerard Schmitz, Firouz Rooyani: Lesotho: Geology, Geomorphology and Soils. National University of Lesotho, Roma 1987, no ISBN, p. 20.