Nature & Conservation
Granite – a beautiful foundation
Join me on a journey into the very distant past, when our planet was about a quarter of the age it is today.
17 January 2023
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Join me on a journey into the very distant past, when our planet was about a quarter of the age it is today.
Mica has a shiny flaky look, and is one of the main components of granite and gneiss, which are the common rock types you’ll find around Hoedspruit. Next time you find a piece of granite or gneiss, have a careful look for shiny mica flakes in the mix of minerals.
On the ancient basement rocks that surround Hoedspruit sit slightly younger rocks that make up the great escarpment, or Mpumalanga Drakensberg. These mountains were formed by sediments laid down on a very different early earth. One of these layers formed primarily on the shallow edges of an ancient ocean, and gave us rocks known as Dolomite and Limestone.
Dolerite dykes are so numerous in this part of South Africa that they form what is called a dyke swarm; the Hoedspruit area is full of places where these hard dark rocks are visible and, in some places, form small hills. They are evidence of a series of vast outpourings of magma onto an ancient land surface that was far above us, but has now been eroded away.
