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Present denudation rates at selected sections of the South African escarpment and the elevated continental interior based on cosmogenic ³He and ²¹Ne

Department of Geological Sciences, University of Cape Town, 7701 Rondebosch, South Africa Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Basel University, 4056 Basel, Switzerland, email: a.kounov{at}unibas.ch

S. Niedermann

GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam, Telegrafenberg, 14473 Potsdam, Germany, email : nied{at}gfz-potsdam.de

M. J. de Wit

AEON and Department of Geological Sciences, University of Cape Town, 7701 Rondebosch, South Africa, email: maarten{at}cigces.uct.ac.za

G. Viola

Geological Survey of Norway, 7491 Trondheim, Norway, email: giulio.viola{at}ngu.no

M. Andreoli

South African Nuclear Energy Corporation, PO Box 582, 0001 Pretoria, South Africa School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, P Bag 3, 2050 Wits, South Africa, email: marco{at}necsa.co.za

J. Erzinger

GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam, Telegrafenberg, 14473 Potsdam, Germany, email: erz{at}gfz-potsdam.de

Measurements of cosmogenic ³He and ²¹Ne concentrations in dolerite and quartzite samples from selected sites across the South African coastal escarpment and the interior plateau provide valuable estimates of the short-term (i.e., a few hundred thousand years) denudation rates. Present-day denudation rates at the summit of the escarpment and on the inland plateau are more than an order of magnitude lower than those in the Cretaceous. Values between 1.0 and 2.1 m/Ma obtained from resistant quartzite samples and between 1.5 and 3 m/Ma from dolerite sills suggest a strong lithology control on the erosion. The observed patterns of denudation across different landform sites on the high plateau and along its flanking escarpment suggest that the morphology of the sampling sites together with the local climate conditions have controlled the denudation processes.

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