Griqualand West: A classic carbonate platform with iron mines, the world’s largest manganese deposits and a record of early Neoproterozoic Snowball Earth. Included are visits to the world famous Kimberly Big Hole Diamond Mine and Museum, the spectacular Galagadi (Kalahari) National Park and Augrabis Falls on the Orange River, one of world’s largest waterfalls.

This field trip covers the Neoarchean to Proterozoic sedimentary transition, volcanism, structural geology, stromatolites, BIFs, world’s largest Fe and Mn deposits and glacial deposits in the context of the Western Kaapvaal Craton between 2.75 and 2.2 Ga.

Starting at the crystalline basement, the unconformity below the Ventersdorp Supergroup, conglomerates and tuffaceous sandstones with Earth’s oldest raindrop imprints and 2.7 Ga stromatolites will be visited. The unconformity above the Ventersdorp Supergroup, with basal conglomerates of the Transvaal Supergroup, will be demonstrated, including the world’s largest stromatolitic carbonate platform succession, transgressed by economically important banded iron-formations with some of the world’s largest iron and blue asbestos deposits. Succeeding sedimentary and volcanic units host the glacial Magkanyene deposits. Overlying this succession are the world’s largest manganese deposits. The “Great Oxidation Event”, the “Snow Ball Earth” and the metalogenesis of Fe, Mn, Pb/Zn (world’s oldest MVT) deposits will be discussed in outcrops.

Field Trip Leader: Wlady Altermann and Ms Vusani V Mathada (Bsc Hons)
Start: Cape Town International Airport – Includes Flight to Kimberley
End: Kimberley Airport – Includes Flight to Cape Town
Departs: Delegates arriving on own, departure at 09:00 on the 18th
Dates:    9 days, Wedensday 17th to Thursday 25th August  2016
Price: R 33 000 per person sharing with single supplement of R 5 500 per person 

Info from Trip Leader

Download trip route