   #copyright

Golden Gate Highlands National Park

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: African Geography

       Golden Gate Highlands National Park
   IUCN Category II ( National Park)
   Golden Gate Highlands National Park
   Map of South Africa

                             Map of South Africa

   Location:       Free State, South Africa
   Nearest city:   Bethlehem
   Coordinates:    28°31′28″S, 28°37′15″E
   Area:           41 km^2 (16 mi^2)
   Established:    1963
   Governing body: South Africa National Parks

   Golden Gate Highlands National Park is located in Free State, Republic
   of South Africa, near the Lesotho border. It covers an area of 41 km^2
   (16 mi^2). The park's most notable features are its golden, ochre and
   orange hued deeply eroded sandstone cliffs and outcrops, especially the
   Brandwag rock. Another feature of the area is the numerous caves and
   shelters displaying San rock paintings. It is the Free State's only
   national park, and is more famous for the beauty of its landscape than
   for its wildlife.

Location

   "Golden Gate" refers to the impressive sandstone cliffs that are found
   on either side of the valley at the Golden Gate dam. In 1875, a farmer
   called J.N.R. van Reenen and his wife stopped here as they travelled to
   their new farm in Vuurland. He named the location "Golden Gate" when he
   saw the last rays of the setting sun fall on the cliffs.

   In 1963, 47.92 square kilometres (11,840 acres) were proclaimed as a
   national park, specifically to preserve the scenic beauty of the area.
   In 1981 the park was enlarged to 62.41 km² (15,420 acres) and in 1988
   it was enlarged to 116.33 km² (28,746 acres). In 2004 it was announced
   that the park would be joined with the neighbouring QwaQwa National
   Park.

   The park is 320 km (200 miles) from Johannesburg and is close to the
   villages of Clarens and Kestell, in the upper regions of the Little
   Caledon River. The park is situated in the Rooiberge of the eastern
   Free State, in the foothills of the Maluti Mountains. The Caledon River
   forms the southern boundary of the park as well as the border between
   the Free State and Lesotho. The highest peak in the park (and also in
   the Free State) is Ribbokkop at 2,829 m (9,281 ft).

   The park is located in the eastern highveld region of South Africa, and
   experiences a dry sunny climate from June to August. It has showers,
   hails and thunderstorms between October and April. It has thick
   snowfalls in the winter. The park has a relatively high rainfall of 800
   mm (30 inches) per year.

Vegetation

   The park is an area of rich highveld and montane grassland flora. It
   has more than fifty grass species and a large variety of bulbs and
   herbs. Each of these species has its own flowering time, meaning that
   veld flowers can be seen throughout the summer. The park also has
   Afromontane forests and high-altitude Austro-Afro Alpine Grassland,
   which is scarce in South Africa. The ouhout ( Leucosidca sericca), an
   evergreen species, is the most common tree in the park. Ouhout is a
   favourite habitat of beetles and 117 species occur on these trees in
   the park. The Lombardi poplars and weeping willows in the park are
   introduced species, but are kept because of their cultural and historic
   connection with the eastern Free State. Other exotic species in the
   park, for example wattle and bluegum, are systematically eradicated.

Wildlife

   Instead of reintroducing one of the "Big Five" into the park, the
   sungazer lizard and water mongoose were reintroduced. Twelve species of
   mice, ten species of carnivores and eight antelope species have been
   recorded in the park. The Grey rhebuck and mountain reedbuck were
   present when the park was established. Eland, blesbok, black
   wildebeest, springbok, oribi and Burchell's zebra were also introduced.

   140 bird species have been identified in the park, including the rare
   Bearded Vulture and the endangered Cape Vulture and Bald Ibis. Seven
   snake species, including the puff adder, mountain adder and rinkhals
   are found in the park.

Geology and palaeontology

   The geology of the park provides very visual "textbook" examples of
   Southern Africa's geological history. The sandstone formations in the
   park form the upper part of the Karoo Supergroup. These formations were
   deposited during a period of aeolian deposition towards the end of the
   Triassic Period. At the time of deposition the climate of the area the
   park covers was becoming progressively drier until arid desert
   conditions set in, resulting in a land of dunes and sandy desert, with
   occasional scattered oases. The deposition of the sandstones ended when
   lava flowed out over the desert 190 million years ago.

   The following sequence of geological formations are visible in the park
   (starting from the bottom): the Molteno Formation, Elliott Formation,
   Clarens Formation and the Drakensberg Formation. The spectacular
   yellow-brown Golden Gate and Brandwag cliffs are made up of the Clarens
   formation. The layers in this formation are 140 to 160 metres (460 to
   520 ft) thick. The Drakensberg formation is comprised of the basaltic
   lava that flowed over the desert. It forms the mountain summits in the
   park. On Ribbokkop it is 600 meters (2000 ft) thick. The Elliot
   Formation is a red mudstone where many dinosaur fossils have been
   found.

   The oldest dinosaur embryos ever discovered were found in the park in
   1978. The eggs were from the Triassic Period (220 to 195 million years
   ago) and had fossilised foetal skeletons of Massospondylus, a
   prosauropod dinosaur. More examples of these eggs have since been found
   in the park. Other fossils found in the park include those of advanced
   cynodontia (canine toothed animals), small thecodontia (animals with
   teeth set firmly in the jaw), bird-like and crocodile-like dinosaurs.
   Retrieved from "
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Gate_Highlands_National_Park"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
