2014 Diary: Day 1 (unofficial)

CGS Field School 2014 Begins, unofficially

The CGS Field School of 2014 unofficially started today! The day involved travelling for the participants living outside Pretoria. Most of these participants came from Polokwane, Limpopo Province, where we start in our journey across all 9 provinces of South Africa.

The Limpopo Province has some of the best geology in South Africa and the few participants involved were awarded the chance to see some of this during today's journey. This included travelling across the Archean-aged Pietersburg Greenstone Belt. This is renowned for its gold mineralisation and was the site of the earliest gold mining activity in South Africa, i.e. 1871 at Eersteling ca. 40 km outside of Polokwane. More than 3 tonnes of gold was extracted from this location, before it was rendered economically nonviable in the late 1900's.

The journey continued briefly across the igneous Proterozoic-aged Bushveld Complex, near Mokopane. This is the most prospective PGM (platinum group mineral) bearing resources in the world, with more than 80 % of the world's platinum being mined in South Africa. Most of the topography seen around the Mokopane region consists of the Bushveld Main Zone, and comprises of anorthosite and gabbroic rocks.

Beyond Mokopane, the scenery is almost entirely dominated by flat-lying flood plains, overlying vast sediments of the Transvaal Supergroup. However, near Modimolle (Nylstroom) there is a peculiar mountainous outcrop (as shown above). This prominent "koppie" is the southernmost outcrop of the Paleo-Proterozoic Waterberg Group (ca. 1.85 Billion years old). The Waterberg proper can be found some 400 km to the north! Any ideas as to why this particular outcrop can be found this far south, and is also this characteristically topographic when compared to the surrounding strata?

One folklore states that if a person were to climb this mountain, Modimolle, that person would potentially meet God. After which, that person would never return...

Tomorrow, the Field School will officially begin with all participants! Starting Point: Pretoria, the Capital of South Africa, and Province number 2: Gauteng, the economic hub of South Africa.