Geology of Namibia
The country is famous for its mineral deposits of Tsumeb, as well as many geological sites of interest, from paleontological, geomorphological and volcanic 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.
[1] The geology of Namibia is dominated in the north by metasediments of the Neoproterozoic Damara Belt (or Namibian System), while in the south large areas are underlain by the unmetamorphosed, relatively undisturbed sediments of the Cambrian Nama Group.
Locally, within the Damaran terrain, inliers of older basement occur, for instance in the extreme northwest at the Kunene River the oldest rocks of the country belong to the Paleoproterozoic (about 2,100 Ma) Epupa Metamorphic Complex.
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.
[3] The overlying rocks of the Nama Group in central southern Namibia consist of marine sediments indicating a shallow shelf environment, deposited during the Ediacaran and earliest Cambrian.
The clastic components of the Nama Group were mainly derived from the Damara Orogenic Belt, while the basal pelites and carbonates have eastern provenance 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 Permo-Triassic Karoo Sequence is intruded by mostly Mesozoic dolerite sills and dyke swarms, which, together with extensive basaltic volcanism and alkaline sub-volcanic intrusions, are related to the breakup of Gondwana, and the formation of the South Atlantic Ocean during the Cretaceous.
The Mesozoic is represented by the Triassic Omingonde Formation comprising therapsid fossils and the Early Jurassic Etjo Sandstone with dinosaur trackways.
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 100 metres (330 ft) thick.
[14] 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.
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.
Salt is recovered on a large scale from coastal solar evaporation pans in the Swakopmund and Walvis Bay areas, and at Cape Cross.
A formal inventory has provided 32 sites: 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.
On 8 December 1988, the Mukarob collapsed, possibly due to a destructive earthquake that had occurred the previous day in Armenia, 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.
