Damara-Orogen mit Damara-Gürtel, Kaoko-Gürtel und Gariep-Gürtel

The geology of Namibia encompasses rocks of Paleoproterozoic, Mesoproterozoic and Neoproterozoic and

Paleozoic The Paleozoic (or Palaeozoic) Era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. The name ''Paleozoic'' ( ;) was coined by the British geologist Adam Sedgwick in 1838 by combining the Greek words ''palaiós'' (, "old") and ' ...

Cenozoic The Cenozoic ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterised by the dominance of mammals, birds and flowering plants, a cooling and drying climate, and the current configura ...

age. About 46% of the countryʼs surface are bedrock exposure, while the remainder is covered by the young overburden sediments of the Kalahari and Namib deserts. The country is famous for its mineral deposits of Tsumeb, as well as many geological sites of interest, from paleontological,

geomorphological Geomorphology (from Ancient Greek: , ', "earth"; , ', "form"; and , ', "study") is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features created by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or n ...

and

volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...

character. Due to the exposure of the formations in a desert climate and the former German colony, the geology of Namibia is relatively well studied compared to the more tropical less exposed northern neighbors.

Stratigraphy and tectonics

Tectonic evolution diagrams for the Damara Belt of the Damara Orogen

Geological profile showing the crustal architecture of the Damara Belt of the Damara Orogen

Large areas of the Namibian geology exposed onshore are associated with the Late Proterozoic Pan-African orogenic cycle.Kukulus, 2004, p.10 The geology of

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

is dominated in the north by metasediments of the Neoproterozoic

Damara Belt The Damara orogeny was part of the Pan-African orogeny. The Damara orogeny occurred late in the creation of Gondwana, at the intersection of the Congo and the Kalahari cratons.; ; ; ; The Damara orogeny involved the suturing of the Congo– São ...

(or Namibian System), while in the south large areas are underlain by the unmetamorphosed, relatively undisturbed sediments of the

Cambrian The Cambrian Period ( ; sometimes symbolized C with bar, Ꞓ) was the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 53.4 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran Period 538.8 million ...

Nama Group The Nama Group is a megaregional Vendian to Cambrian group of stratigraphic sequences deposited in the Nama foreland basin in central and southern Namibia. The Nama Basin is a peripheral foreland basin, and the Nama Group was deposited in two ear ...

. Locally, within the Damaran terrain, inliers of older

basement A basement or cellar is one or more floors of a building that are completely or partly below the ground floor. It generally is used as a utility space for a building, where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, ...

occur, for instance in the extreme northwest at the

Kunene River The Cunene (Portuguese spelling) or Kunene (common Namibian spelling) is a river in Southern Africa. It flows from the Angola highlands south to the border with Namibia. It then flows west along the border until it reaches the Atlantic Ocean. It ...

the oldest rocks of the country belong to the Paleoproterozoic (about 2,100 Ma)

Epupa Metamorphic Complex Epupa (Herero for "falling waters") may refer to: * Epupa Falls, waterfalls on the border between Angola and Namibia * Epupa Constituency, electoral constituency in north-western Namibia named after the falls * Epupa, Namibia, the settlement at Epu ...

. Only slightly younger are

metamorphic rock Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock (protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, causin ...

s of the Huab Complex west of

Outjo Outjo (Otjiherero: ''small hills'') is a city of 6,000 inhabitants in the Kunene Region of Namibia. It is the district capital of Outjo Constituency. It is best known as a main gateway to Etosha National Park. Overview The town was founded by ...

. Similar ages are also recorded from rocks of the Grootfontain Metamorphic Complex in the northeast of the country. The Rehoboth-Sinclair Complex in Namibiaʼs southwest is of late Paleoproterozoic or Mesoproterozoic age. The Epupa and Huab Complexes were attached to the Congo Craton, whilst the Grootfontain and the volcano-sedimentary formations of the Rehoboth-Sinclair Complexes were assembled with the Kalahari Craton. The Namaqua Metamorphic Complex consists of metasediments originally eroded from the Congo and Kalahari Cratons. Granitic and metabasic intrusions also occur. It is of Mesoproterozoic age and covers large areas in the south and southwest of the country. Of Neoproterozoic age are the rocks of the Damara Orogenic Belt, which are widespread in central and northern Namibia. These are high grade metamorphics, but granitic intrusions are also frequent. In the Neoproterozoic Damara Orogen and Gariep Belt, mineralisation is associated with successive phases of intracontinental rifting (copper, graphite), spreading and the formation of passive continental margins. The overlying rocks of the

in central southern Namibia consist of marine sediments indicating a shallow shelf environment, deposited during the

Ediacaran The Ediacaran Period ( ) is a geological period that spans 96 million years from the end of the Cryogenian Period 635 million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Cambrian Period 538.8 Mya. It marks the end of the Proterozoic Eon, and th ...

and earliest

. The clastic components of the Nama Group were mainly derived from the Damara Orogenic Belt, while the basal pelites and carbonates have eastern

provenance Provenance (from the French ''provenir'', 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody or location of a historical object. The term was originally mostly used in relation to works of art but is now used in similar senses i ...

areas. No deposition is recorded from the Cambrian until the beginning of the Karoo episode, which in its initial phase is characterized by glacial sediments of the

Dwyka Group The Dwyka Group is one of four geological groups that compose the Karoo Supergroup. It is the lowermost geological group and heralds the commencement of sedimentation of the Karoo Supergroup. Based on stratigraphic position, lithostratigraphic co ...

. This type of rocks is well-distributed in the

Kaokoveld The Kaokoveld Desert is a coastal desert of northern Namibia and southern Angola. Setting The Kaokoveld Desert occupies a coastal strip covering , from 13° to 21°S and is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Namibian savanna woodla ...

of northwest Namibia. It is followed by continental sediments of the

Omingonde Formation The Omingonde Formation is an Early Triassic, Early to Middle Triassic (Anisian to Ladinian) geologic Formation (geology), formation, part of the Karoo Supergroup, in the western Otjozondjupa Region and northeastern Erongo Region of north-central N ...

of the

Ecca Ecca may refer to: * Ecca Group, a group of sedimentary geological formations in southern Africa * Ecca Pass, Eastern Cape province, South Africa * European Coil Coating Association, non-profit group dedicated to the diffusion of the use of coil a ...

and

Stormberg Group The Stormberg Group is one of the four geological groups that comprises the Karoo Supergroup in South Africa. It is the uppermost geological group representing the final phase of preserved sedimentation of the Karoo Basin. The Stormberg Group roc ...

s in central Namibia. The

Permo ''Permo'' is the debut studio album by Scottish indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe i ...

Triassic The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...

Karoo Sequence is intruded by mostly Mesozoic

dolerite Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro, is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-grained ...

sills and dyke swarms, which, together with extensive

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

volcanism Volcanism, vulcanism or volcanicity is the phenomenon of eruption of molten rock (magma) onto the surface of the Earth or a solid-surface planet or moon, where lava, pyroclastics, and volcanic gases erupt through a break in the surface called ...

and alkaline sub-volcanic intrusions, are related to the breakup of

Gondwana Gondwana () was a large landmass, often referred to as a supercontinent, that formed during the late Neoproterozoic (about 550 million years ago) and began to break up during the Jurassic period (about 180 million years ago). The final stages ...

, and the formation of the South Atlantic Ocean during the Cretaceous. The currently last chapter of the geological history of the country is represented by the widespread Cenozoic to recent deposits of the Kalahari Sequence.

Sedimentary basins

Namibia hosts the following sedimentary basins:

Paleontology

While fossiliferous stratigraphic units are relatively rare in Namibia, the unique

to Early Cambrian biota of the

are a major paleontological highlight. The

Late Carboniferous Late may refer to: * LATE, an acronym which could stand for: ** Limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy, a proposed form of dementia ** Local-authority trading enterprise, a New Zealand business law ** Local average treatment effect, ...

Early Permian 01 or '01 may refer to: * The year 2001, or any year ending with 01 * The month of January * 1 (number) Music * '01 (Richard Müller album), 01'' (Richard Müller album), 2001 * 01 (Son of Dave album), ''01'' (Son of Dave album), 2000 * 01 (Urban ...

Ganigobis Formation has provided fossil fishes and the younger White Hill, Huab and Gai-As Formations of the

contain ''

Mesosaurus ''Mesosaurus'' (meaning "middle lizard") is an extinct genus of reptile from the Early Permian of southern Africa and South America. Along with it, the genera '' Brazilosaurus'' and ''Stereosternum'', it is a member of the family Mesosauridae a ...

'' fossils. The

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceo ...

is represented by the

comprising

therapsid Therapsida is a major group of eupelycosaurian synapsids that includes mammals, their ancestors and relatives. Many of the traits today seen as unique to mammals had their origin within early therapsids, including limbs that were oriented more ...

fossils and the Early Jurassic Etjo Sandstone with

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

trackways. The

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene' ...

Buntfeldschuch and Langental Formations contain numerous fossil fish and the Early Miocene

Elisabeth Bay Formation The Elisabeth Bay Formation, alternatively spelled as Elizabeth Bay Formation, is an Early Miocene ( Aquitanian to Burdigalian, around 21 Ma) geologic formation in the Sperrgebiet, ǁKaras Region of southwestern Namibia, overlying the Blaubok Co ...

shows a diverse fauna with

snake Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...

and

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

fossils.Elizabethfeld
at

Fossilworks Fossilworks is a portal which provides query, download, and analysis tools to facilitate access to the Paleobiology Database The Paleobiology Database is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals ...

.org

Roter Kamm crater

The

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58impact crater in

ǁKaras Region The ǁKaras Region (pronounced , with a lateral click) is the southernmost and least densely populated of the 14 regions of Namibia; its capital is Keetmanshoop. The name assigned to the region reflects the prominence of the Karas mountain rang ...

in the Kalahari Desert, about north of

Oranjemund Oranjemund (German for ''"Mouth of Orange"'') is a diamond mining town of 4,000 inhabitants situated in the ǁKaras Region of the extreme southwest of Namibia, on the northern bank of the Orange River mouth at the border to South Africa. Histo ...

. The age is estimated to be 4.81 ± 0.5 Ma and the crater is exposed at the surface, but its original floor is covered by sand deposits at least thick. The

meteor A meteoroid () is a small rocky or metallic body in outer space. Meteoroids are defined as objects significantly smaller than asteroids, ranging in size from grains to objects up to a meter wide. Objects smaller than this are classified as micr ...

that hit it was approximately the size of an SUV.

Economic geology

Tsumeb is a world-famous site for minerals. In the district, 309 different minerals are recorded and the area hosts 72 type localities of minerals and one first reported locality of an unapproved mineral, zinclavendulan, a variety of

lavendulan Lavendulan is an uncommon copper arsenate mineral, known for its characteristic intense electric blue colour. It belongs to the lavendulan group, which has four members: * Lavendulan NaCaCu5(AsO4)4Cl.5H2O * Lemanskiite NaCaCu5(AsO4)4Cl.5H2O * Sam ...

.Tsumeb
-

Mindat.org Mindat.org is a non-commercial online database, claiming to be the largest mineral database and mineralogy, mineralogical reference website on the Internet. It is used by professional mineralogists, geologists, and amateur mineral collecting, mi ...

The minerals arsentsumebite (Pb₂Cu(AsO₄)(SO₄)(OH)) and tsumebite (Pb₂Cu(PO₄)(SO₄)(OH)) are named after Tsumeb.Arsentsumebite
-

Tsumebite
-

Targets for mineral exploration have been identified throughout the stratigraphic column. Metamorphic complexes host a variety of prospective environments such as

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

molybdenum Molybdenum is a chemical element with the symbol Mo and atomic number 42 which is located in period 5 and group 6. The name is from Neo-Latin ''molybdaenum'', which is based on Ancient Greek ', meaning lead, since its ores were confused with lea ...

porphyry, volcanic base metals and gold,

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...

genic copper, sedimentary

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

and

zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...

, fluorite,

shear zone In geology, a shear zone is a thin zone within the Earth's crust or upper mantle that has been strongly deformed, due to the walls of rock on either side of the zone slipping past each other. In the upper crust, where rock is brittle, the shear ...

gold, and

beryllium Beryllium is a chemical element with the symbol Be and atomic number 4. It is a steel-gray, strong, lightweight and brittle alkaline earth metal. It is a divalent element that occurs naturally only in combination with other elements to form mi ...

niobium Niobium is a chemical element with chemical symbol Nb (formerly columbium, Cb) and atomic number 41. It is a light grey, crystalline, and ductile transition metal. Pure niobium has a Mohs hardness rating similar to pure titanium, and it has sim ...

tantalum Tantalum is a chemical element with the symbol Ta and atomic number 73. Previously known as ''tantalium'', it is named after Tantalus, a villain in Greek mythology. Tantalum is a very hard, ductile, lustrous, blue-gray transition metal that is ...

mineralization. Paleoproterozoic to Mesoproterozoic rocks locally contain extensive

red bed Red beds (or redbeds) are sedimentary rocks, typically consisting of sandstone, siltstone, and shale, that are predominantly red in color due to the presence of ferric oxides. Frequently, these red-colored sedimentary strata locally contain th ...

copper, while calc-alkaline units of the same age have potential for porphyry and hydrothermal copper, as well as vein-type gold mineralization. Namibia is one of the major producers of

diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of car ...

s, 95% of which are of gem quality. The bulk of the countryʼs known diamonds occur along the southern coastline, north of the

Orange River The Orange River (from Afrikaans/Dutch: ''Oranjerivier'') is a river in Southern Africa. It is the longest river in South Africa. With a total length of , the Orange River Basin extends from Lesotho into South Africa and Namibia to the north ...

mouth. The diamonds originated in the interior of southern Africa and were transported by the Orange River to the Atlantic coast, where they were deposited within beach sediments. Almost the entire coastline is covered by exploration and mining licenses. Offshore mining techniques have been pioneered in Namibia and the country has firmly been established as the world leader in marine diamond mining. Inland, in the vicinity of Gibeon, 60 barren pipes of kimberlite of post-Karoo age have been identified. The northeast of the country also hosts some kimberlites, which are currently being explored for their diamond potential. The main occurrences of gold are in the Karibib and Rehoboth regions, the Omaruru area and the Kunene region.

Silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

is present in several deposits mined principally for their copper, lead and zinc contents. It is found in the ore bodies of Tsumeb,

Kombat Kombat (''the place of the giraffe'') is a mine and its associated settlement at the southern margin of the Otavi Mountain Range in northern Namibia. It is situated East of Otavi on the B8 to Grootfontein. Kombat at its peak had over 1,000 i ...

and

Rosh Pinah mine The Rosh Pinah mine is a mine near Rosh Pinah in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia. It is one of the largest and most important lead and zinc mines in Namibia. The mine is located in the extreme southwest, about north of the Orange River and ...

s. Graphitic deposits in the Damara Sequence, calcrete hosted deposits of the Tertiary and sedimentary deposits in

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

s of the Karoo Supergroup, are the three major types of uranium hosting lithologies in Namibia. The deposits at Rössing and

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

are of granitic origin. In the mid-2000s, Rössing was the countryʼs only producer of

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

. Major base metal production in Namibia includes copper, lead and zinc. Large-scale mining of base metals, especially copper, plays an important role in the economy of the country. Copper occurs at several locations, but is dominated by the Damara deposits: Otavi Mountainland (including the defunct Tsumeb Mine) and the Matchless Amphibolite Belt of the Swakop Group. Minor amounts come from Rosh Pinah. A feasibility study of the Skorpion zinc project has confirmed that Skorpion could rank as one of the worldʼs largest integrated zinc mining and refining operations. Haib, at the border with South Africa, is a classic porphyry copper-gold-molybdenum deposit featuring oxide and sulphide copper with a predominance of chalcopyrite in the sulphide ores. Salt is recovered on a large scale from coastal solar evaporation pans in the Swakopmund and Walvis Bay areas, and at

Cape Cross Cape Cross (Afrikaans: ''Kaap Kruis''; German: ''Kreuzkap''; Portuguese: ''Cabo da Cruz'') is a headland in the South Atlantic in Skeleton Coast, western Namibia. History In 1484, Portuguese navigator and explorer Diogo Cão was ordered by Ki ...

. The Okorusu Fluorspar Mine produces high quality acid-grade fluorspar. The Okanjande graphite deposit near Otjiwarongo is composed of high quality flake graphite, but the mine has not yet gone into operation. Wollastonite is produced in the

Usakos , nickname = , settlement_type = Town , motto = Excelsior , image_skyline = Usakos Luftaufnahme (2018).jpg , imagesize = 300 , image_caption = Aerial photograph of Usakos (2018) ...

area. Namibia also produces a variety of semi-precious stones through both small and medium scale mining.

tourmaline Tourmaline ( ) is a crystalline silicate mineral group in which boron is compounded with elements such as aluminium, iron, magnesium, sodium, lithium, or potassium. Tourmaline is a gemstone and can be found in a wide variety of colors. The ...

, aquamarine, heliodore, morganite, rose quartz, smoky quartz,

garnet Garnets () are a group of silicate minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. All species of garnets possess similar physical properties and crystal forms, but differ in chemical composition. The different s ...

, chrysocolla and

dioptase Dioptase is an intense emerald-green to bluish-green copper cyclosilicate mineral. It is transparent to translucent. Its luster is vitreous to sub- adamantine. Its formula is Cu6Si6O18·6H2O (also reported as CuSiO2(OH)2). It has a hardness of 5 ...

are quarried in various parts of the country.

Marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

, granite and other dimension stone for export or local processing are produced between Swakopmund and Karibib.

Petroleum geology

The Namibian Atlantic margin is conjugate with the Pelotas Basin of

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, , ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative_units_of_Brazil#List, fifth-most-populous state and the List of Brazilian st ...

and northeastern

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

. Both basins are compared to their northern counterparts, for the Walvis Basin in Namibia the

Kwanza Basin The kwanza (sign: Kz; ISO 4217 code: ) is the currency of Angola. Four different currencies using the name kwanza have circulated since 1977. The currency derives its name from the Kwanza River (Cuanza, Coanza, Quanza). Overview First kwanz ...

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

, and for the Pelotas Basin the

Santos Basin The Santos Basin ( pt, Bacia de Santos) is an approximately large mostly offshore sedimentary basin. It is located in the south Atlantic Ocean, some southeast of Santos, Brazil. The basin is one of the Brazilian basins to have resulted from th ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, underexplored. Apart from the discovery of the offshore Kudu Gas Field, exploration intersected oil-prone source rocks in boreholes, of merely five wells until 2004.Kukulus, 2004, p.146 The Walvis Basin is bound by the Walvis Ridge, which formed a barrier in the opening of the Southern Atlantic in the

Aptian The Aptian is an age in the geologic timescale or a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early or Lower Cretaceous Epoch or Series and encompasses the time from 121.4 ± 1.0 Ma to 113.0 ± 1.0 Ma (million years ago), a ...

leading to salt basins to the north and basins without evaporite deposits to the south. The ridge, in South America correlated with the Rio Grande Rise, both related with the Tristan da Cunha hotspot, also represents the boundary between volcanic and non-volcanic areas to the south and north respectively.Sakariassen, 2007, p.2

Cenomanian The Cenomanian is, in the ICS' geological timescale, the oldest or earliest age of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or the lowest stage of the Upper Cretaceous Series. An age is a unit of geochronology; it is a unit of time; the stage is a unit in the s ...

Turonian The Turonian is, in the ICS' geologic timescale, the second age in the Late Cretaceous Epoch, or a stage in the Upper Cretaceous Series. It spans the time between 93.9 ± 0.8 Ma and 89.8 ± 1 Ma (million years ago). The Turonian is preceded by t ...

oil-prone

source rock In petroleum geology, source rock is rock which has generated hydrocarbons or which could generate hydrocarbons. Source rocks are one of the necessary elements of a working petroleum system. They are organic-rich sediments that may have been depos ...

s have been penetrated by wells in the Walvis Basin.Kukulus, 2004, p.149 Namibia imports all its power station requirements. A large low-grade

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

field was found near

Aranos Aranos is a town in the Hardap Region of central South east Namibia. The place normally receives an annual average rainfall of , although in the 2010/2011 rainy season were measured. Politics Until 2010 Aranos was governed by a 5-seat village cou ...

, at depths of . Large, low-grade

anthracite Anthracite, also known as hard coal, and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the hig ...

coal deposits are located along the coastline between the Huab River and

Toscanini Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orch ...

. Industrial mineral production in Namibia includes salt,

fluorspar Fluorite (also called fluorspar) is the mineral form of calcium fluoride, CaF2. It belongs to the halide minerals. It crystallizes in isometric cubic habit, although octahedral and more complex isometric forms are not uncommon. The Mohs scal ...

, wollastonite and dimension stone.

Geological sites

2010-09-27 07-12-38 Namibia Karas Waterval

Dinosaurstracks Otjihaenamaparero Namibia

Namibiaʼs geological exposures contribute to a wide variety of geological sites. Some of them have already been protected, but some are unfortunately already spoiled. A formal inventory has provided 32 sites: * Brandberg *

Brukkaros Mountain Brukkaros Mountain (Khoekhoe language, Khoekhoe: ''Geitsi Gubib'') is a collapsed caldera in ǁKaras Region, Namibia. Measuring 1,590 metres at its peak on the eastern edge of the crater, Brukkaros is located about 15 kilometres northeast of the ...

* Burnt Mountain * Dieprivier * Dolerite Hills * Etendeka Plateau * Erongo *

Etosha Pan The Etosha Pan is a large endorheic salt pan, forming part of the Cuvelai-Etosha Basin in the north of Namibia. It is a hollow in the ground in which water may collect or in which a deposit of salt remains after water has evaporated. The 120-kilo ...

Fish River Canyon The Fish River Canyon (Afrikaans: ''Visrivier Canyon'' or'' Visrivier Kuil'', german: Fischfluss Canyon), is located in the south of Namibia. It is the largest canyon in Africa, as well as the second most visited tourist attraction in Namibia.Ma ...

Gamsberg The Gamsberg is a mountain in the Appenzell Alps, overlooking the region of Walenstadt in the canton of St. Gallen. Located in the Alvier group it is the culminating point of the range lying between Lake Walenstadt and Toggenburg. The summit ...

* Gibeoan Meteorites *

Hoba Meteorite The Hoba ( ) meteorite, short for Hoba West, is a meteorite that lies on the farm of the same name, not far from Grootfontein, in the Otjozondjupa Region of Namibia. It has been uncovered, but because of its large mass, has never been moved from w ...

* Kalahari Desert * Karas Mountains *

Kolmanskop Kolmanskop (Afrikaans for “Coleman's head”, german: Kolmannskuppe) is a ghost town in the Namib in southern Namibia, ten kilometres inland from the port town of Lüderitz. It was named after a transport driver named Johnny Coleman who, during ...

* Kuiseb Canyon *

Lake Otjikoto Otjikoto Lake is the smaller of only two permanent natural lakes in Namibia. It is a sinkhole lake that was created by a collapsing karst cave. It is located north-west of Tsumeb and only 100 meters from the main road B1. The lake was declared a ...

and Lake Guinas * Messum *

Mount Etjo Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

* Mukorob * Namib Desert *

Naukluft The Naukluft Mountains (Afrikaans and German: ''Naukluftberge'') are a mountain range in central Namibia. The southern part of the mountain range forms the easternmost part of the Namib-Naukluft National Park. The northern mountains are occupied ...

Omatako Mountains The Omatako Mountains (german: Omatakoberge) are two mountains in central Namibia Otjozondjupa Region, located some north of Okahandja. Their name in the Herero language literally means "buttocks". Omatako Constituency, where the mountains are si ...

Organ Pipes An organ pipe is a sound-producing element of the pipe organ that resonates at a specific pitch when pressurized air (commonly referred to as ''wind'') is driven through it. Each pipe is tuned to a specific note of the musical scale. A set of ...

* Dinosaur tracks at

Otjihaenamparero The Otjihaenamparero dinosaur tracks are a set of different fossil tracks located at the Otjihaenamparero farmstead, east of the small town of Kalkfeld in the Otjozondjupa Region in central Namibia. The tracks were first reported as dinosaur imp ...

* Petrified forest, Khorixas *

Sesriem Canyon Sesriem is a small settlement in the Namib Desert, in the Hardap Region of Namibia, close to the southern end of the Naukluft Mountains. It is especially known because the "Sesriem gate" is the main access point to the Namib-Naukluft National Par ...

* Sossusvlei * Tsondabvlei *

Spitzkoppe The Spitzkoppe (from German for ''"pointed dome"''; also referred to as Spitzkop, Groot Spitzkop, or the "Matterhorn of Namibia") is a group of bald granite peaks or inselbergs located between Usakos and Swakopmund in the Namib desert of Nam ...

Twyfelfontein Twyfelfontein (Afrikaans: ''uncertain spring''), officially known as ǀUi-ǁAis ( Damara/Nama: ''jumping waterhole''), is a site of ancient rock engravings in the Kunene Region of north-western Namibia. It consists of a spring in a valley flanked ...

Vingerklip The Vingerklip (Afrikaans for "Rock Finger"), a rock needle built up from sedimentary rock layers dating from the Tertiary period, is situated about 80 km southwest of the town of Outjo and approx. 50 km east of the city of Khorixas in n ...

* Waterberg Mukurob gefallen

A spoiled geological monument is the Mukorob or "Finger of God", a weather resistant remnant of a sandstone pinnacle that was left standing on its own as erosion slowly cut back the surrounding Weissrand Escarpment of the Karoo Supergroup in southern Namibia. The Mukorob consisted of a large head of sandstone supported by a narrow neck of soft, fragmented

mudstone Mudstone, a type of mudrock, is a fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Mudstone is distinguished from '' shale'' by its lack of fissility (parallel layering).Blatt, H., and R.J. Tracy, 1996, ''Petrology. ...

. The head was almost high and weighed about . On 8 December 1988, the Mukarob collapsed, possibly due to a destructive

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

that had occurred the previous day in

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

, but which was recorded strongly on the seismograph in Windhoek. The petrified forest near Khorixas in northwest Namibia is an impressive paleontological monument, which may serve as an already well protected geological site. Similarly, the

in northern Namibia, which is the largest known

iron meteorite Iron meteorites, also known as siderites, or ferrous meteorites, are a type of meteorite that consist overwhelmingly of an iron–nickel alloy known as meteoric iron that usually consists of two mineral phases: kamacite and taenite. Most iron met ...

on Earth, is well protected as a national monument and attracts many visitors at the site and in the museum. The famous copper deposit at Tsumeb in northern Namibia was closed as a mine in 1996, but in addition to commercial sales of blister copper, Tsumeb is noted for its mineralogical diversity, having provided innumerable specimens of unique or rare minerals to the world's museums. Tsumeb therefore also deserves to achieve the status of a geosite. Other locations in Namibia that are of geological significance include traces of Triassic

dinosauromorpha Dinosauromorpha is a clade of avemetatarsalian archosaurs (reptiles closer to birds than to crocodilians) that includes the Dinosauria (dinosaurs) and some of their close relatives. It was originally defined to include dinosauriforms and lager ...

in central Namibia; the

in southern Namibia is the second largest canyon of the world and is famous for its scenic beauty. File:Hoba meteorite, Namibia (2014).jpg,

Hoba meteorite The Hoba ( ) meteorite, short for Hoba West, is a meteorite that lies on the farm of the same name, not far from Grootfontein, in the Otjozondjupa Region of Namibia. It has been uncovered, but because of its large mass, has never been moved from w ...

, the largest known meteorite (as a single piece) File:Weissrand (2019).jpg, Aerial view of Weissrand (2019)

References

Bibliography

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