Monthly Archives: January 2012

  On Tuesday we decided to explore downtown Cape Town. We started by visiting the oldest establishment, the Dutch fort constructed in the late 1600’s. Among the highlights of the visit were exhibits on the Boer war and the ‘Torture … Continue reading →

On our way back to Capetown, we stopped at a small town of Laingsburg. Laingsburg is a field site for oil companies who explore turbidity currents. There are small and large-scale exposures of turbidites. First, we looked at localized small-scale … Continue reading →

So after leaving Ganora we made the long drive back to Cape Town for a few more days in South Africa. We woke up the next morning in our beautiful accommodations (we had a whole house!) and drove around Cape … Continue reading →

It’s time to depart the Karoo and head back to Cape Town, leaving the gorgeous desert sunsets to JP and Hester, our friends and gracious hosts at Ganora.  Saturday morning marks the end of our 4th extended stay near Nieu … Continue reading →

After two weeks of measuring and describing the rocks for each of our sections we have finally finished our fieldwork. Yesterday at New Wapadsberg Pass we finished Tara’s project and collected all the necessary samples. After lunch we drove back … Continue reading →

Team Karoo has since been reduced to 5 members after Johann, Rose, John, and Valerie finished their intended projects last week. This left the last standing team members, which include Tara, Kody, Bob, Sandra and obviously me, three projects to … Continue reading →

Debate continues about exactly when the “Mother of Mass Extinctions,” the Permo-Triassic event, actually occurred on land.  A team of scientists published a paper in the journal Science last November in which they reported on a large suite of radiometric … Continue reading →

So after a full week’s work we had a relaxing weekend off. Yesterday we spent the morning catching up on field notes and lounging around. Then, we drove to Mountain Zebra National Park, about an hour’s drive from Ganora. We … Continue reading →

As quick as one can say hippopotamus, the Karoo desert has turned into foreign landscape.  Rather than an intense, hot and radiant sun, with temperatures over 100 F, the skies now are overcast, the breeze cold and strong, and rain … Continue reading →

For such a massive chunk of time covered in thirty meters of sedimentary rocks, all of the rocks at the outcrop at Tweefontein are remarkably similar. With the exception of a few meters of sandstone the entire outcrop is composed … Continue reading →