Title:
Facies evidence of hydroclimatic regime shifts in tufa depositional sequences from the arid Naukluft Mountains, Namibia
Publication Year:
2007
Abstract:
The Naukluft Mountains on the eastern edge of the central Namib Desert contain numerous, largely inactive, fluvial tufas within headwater streams of the ephemeral Tsondab River which currently terminates in a vlei in the Namib sand sea. Extensive tufa barrage deposits have been mapped and described along the Brandfontein River, a small (6.5 km long) tributary of the Tsondab River. Here, a series of large barrages have developed along the river system which culminate in a large tufa cascade feature at the mountain front. Tufa facies at Brandfontein include cemented colluvial and fluvial gravels and boulders, moss tufas, as well as reed and root facies. The sequences provide evidence of several cut and fill phases which are interpreted as indicating alternating periods of tufa deposition and fluvial downcutting. Keywords: Namibia, Tufa, Travertine, Fluvial erosion, Hydrological variability.
Publication Title:
Sedimentary Geology
Volume:
195
Issue:
1-2
Pages:
39-53
Item Type:
Journal Article
Language:
en