Geology Field Excursions
GEOLOGY FIELD EXCURSIONS
by Emeritus Professor John Compton
Geology walk along the Sea Point Promenade
Dates: 10 July
Time: 10:00 to 13:00
Fee: R350 per person
Maximum: 20 participants
Bookings are through Webtickets: https://bit.ly/3ROKbMX
The scenic and beautifully exposed rocks and mountains of Cape Town provide the perfect place to explore and learn about the local geology. This walking tour commences at the Sea Point Contact along the Atlantic seashore, which Charles Darwin visited in 1836. We will examine the spectacular exposures of where the hot Cape Granite intruding into the Malmesbury shale 545 million years ago. We will then walk north along the promenade to the beach just beyond the Sea Point swimming pool to examine the Malmesbury Group rocks exposed along the coast in tidal outcrops. We will look from the beach at the scenic vistas of Lion’s Head and the cableway station on top of Table Mountain and discuss various aspects of the local geology and landscape evolution.
Participants need to be fit enough to go for a three hour walk on mostly level ground, some stairs, beach sand, uneven, rocky surfaces.
All participants will receive a copy of Compton’s The Rocks & Mountains of Cape Town as a field guide (if you already own a copy you can use the R150 credit toward another of Compton’s books).
Full-day bus tour of the Cape Peninsula
Dates: 12 July
Time: 08:00 to 18:30
Fee: R1 000 per person
Maximum: 28 participants
Bookings are through Webtickets: https://bit.ly/3Z3kz2K
This excursion takes you to the most scenic outlooks in the Cape Town area which provide the perfect place to explore and learn about the geology. We will first visit Signal Hill for a view of the City Bowl and its surrounding geology. We then head down to the Atlantic seashore to the Sea Point Contact, which Charles Darwin visited in 1836, to examine the spectacular exposures of where the hot Cape Granite intruding into the Malmesbury shale 545 million years ago. We then go to Hout Bay and Chapman’s Peak Drive to see weathered granite, dolerite dykes and beautifully exposed mudstone and sandstone rocks of the lowermost Table Mountain Group. We then travel to the southernmost tip of the Cape Peninsula to the Cape of Good Hope and the Cape Point Lighthouse. From there we head up the eastern edge of the Cape Peninsula to Boulders Beach to see the penguin colony. In addition to the geology, the trip will include aspects of landscape evolution, plants of the unique and diverse fynbos floristic region and the history of geology.
All participants will receive a copy of Compton’s West Coast, A Natural History as a field guide (if you already own a copy you can use the R250 credit toward another of Compton’s books). The trip includes a guidebook, entrance fee to the Cape of Good Hope and the Penguin colony and luxury bus coach transport (Chapman’s Peak toll) with microphone.
Geology walk along Tafelberg Road
Dates: 16 July
Time: 10:00 to 13:00
Fee: R350 per person
Maximum: 20 participants
Bookings are through Webtickets: https://bit.ly/3EEbXcf
The scenic and beautifully exposed rocks and mountains of Cape Town provide the perfect place to explore and learn about the local geology. This walking tour commences at the end of Tafelberg Road beyond the Cableway. We will walk along the section of Tafelberg Road that is now closed to vehicular traffic to examine the spectacular exposures of maroon muddy sandstone of the Graafwater Formation exposed in road cuts. We will look from the road at the scenic vistas of Table Mountain, the City Bowl, the harbour and Lion’s Head and discuss aspects of the geology, erosion (rockfalls), and landscape evolution.
Participants need to be fit enough to go for a three hour walk on mostly level to slightly undulating tarmac.
All participants will receive a copy of Compton’s The Rocks & Mountains of Cape Town as a field guide (if you already own a copy you can use the R150 credit toward another of Compton’s books).
Geology walk from Rhodes Memorial to King’s Blockhouse
Dates: 19 July
Time: 08:00 to 12:00
Fee: R375 per person
Maximum: 20 participants
Bookings are through Webtickets: https://bit.ly/4jZmXj7
The scenic and beautifully exposed rocks and mountains of Cape Town provide the perfect place to explore and learn about geology. This walking tour commences at the Rhodes Memorial with an introduction to its scenic vistas. We proceed on foot up to the King’s Blockhouse, with several stops to catch our breath, looking at the views and the contact between the highly deformed Malmesbury bedrock and the over-lying horizontal Table Mountain Group sandstone beds. From the King’s Blockhouse we traverse the contour trail to exposures of the maroon muddy sandstone beds of the Graafwater Formation and a recent rock fall from the nearby cliffs of Peninsula Formation sandstone. We then walk back along the same route to Rhodes Memorial.
Participants need to be fit enough to go on a four hour hike up steep slopes (you should be able to climb six flights of stairs in 20 minutes, repeated four times).
All participants will receive a copy of Compton’s The Rocks & Mountains of Cape Town as a field guide (if you already own a copy you can use the R150 credit toward another of Compton’s books).