Quaternary Environmental Change On The Southern African Coastal

6
Quaternary environmental change on the southern

African coastal plain
john s. compton
Abstract
The low-lying South African coastal plain, bounded by the sea and by
high-relief terrain of the continental interior, forms an important habitat for
many animals, including humans. The present-day coastal plain is
generally narrow, but expanded in width when sea level was lowered by
between 75 and 130 m during Quaternary glacial periods. During these
periods there was moderate expansion of the western and eastern coastal
plains, whereas the southern coastal plain expanded by up to a factor of
five onto the adjacent Agulhas Bank to form a continuous coastal plain.
The offshore marine geology in this region allows for extrapolation of
modern vegetation biomes onto comparable substrates exposed on the
glacial-age coastal plain. With the exception of cemented dunes
(aeolianite), Quaternary deposits on the exposed shelf are generally
highly reworked and condensed. However, meandering rivers, wetlands
and lakes on the low-lying southern coastal plain can be inferred, and may
have provided a refuge from the dry interior during glacial periods. The
southern coastal plain possibly served as a geographical region of origin
by periodically isolating populations over glacial to interglacial cycles,
promoting human evolution.
6.1 Introduction
Southern Africa is atypical amongst passive continents because it has an extensive
continental interior plateau rising to elevations in excess of 1000 m (Fig. 6.1) and it
has remained tectonically active long after the Cretaceous breakup of Gondwana.
The elevated interior plateau, or African superswell, and tectonic activity are
88
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Quaternary environmental change on the coastal plain 89
Fig. 6.1. Elevation and bathymetry of southern Africa showing the terrain of the
southern African plateau and generally narrow coastal plain (data from National
Geophysical Data Center, NOAA). The expansion of the coastal plain during
glacial periods is shown in white.
considered expressions of dynamic topography sustained by the flow of a large

mantle plume below (Lithgow-Bertelloni and Silver, 1998; Al-Hajri et al., 2014).
Fringing the elevated continental interior is the Great Escarpment that along parts
of the eastern and western margin marks the transition to the coastal plain. Along
the southwestern and southern margins, however, the coastal plain is defined by the
Cape Fold Belt (CFB), which is a series of resistant sandstone mountains that are
erosional remnants of Gondwana orogenic belts (de Wit and Ransome, 1992).
Today, the coastal plain ranges from non-existent where ocean waves crash against
90 John S. Compton
cliff faces of the CFB along the south coast, to relatively wide stretches of flat to
gently rolling hilly terrain underlain by shale bedrock (Fig. 6.2). Much of the
present-day coastal plain was established by the end of the Cretaceous, following
the Gondwana breakup (Tinker et al., 2008), with additional topographic features
established from Neogene uplift (Partridge and Maud, 1987, 2000). Neogene uplift
combined with high-amplitude Quaternary sea-level fluctuations has resulted in a
largely erosional coastal plain on which few Cenozoic deposits are preserved.
The width of the coastal plain has varied in the past because of fluctuations in
sea level, with particularly high-amplitude (from 130 m below to 10 m above
present-day sea level) and high-frequency (5–100 kyr) fluctuations over the last 0.9
million years. Global (eustatic) sea-level variations primarily reflect changes in
global glacial to interglacial ice volumes (Fig. 6.3). In addition, regional sea-level
variations depend on tectonic uplift/subsidence and sediment supply. Although
southern Africa has remained tectonically active, the net amount of uplift at the
coast, including glacioisostatic adjustments, is generally thought to have been
small compared to the amplitude of glacioeustatic sea-level fluctuations during
the Quaternary (Compton and Wiltshire, 2009).
Fig. 6.2. Features of the coastal plain are vertically exaggerated in this composite
Landsat and radar topography image looking east from the Cape Peninsula, across
the Cape Flats and False Bay to the mountains of the Cape Fold Belt. Beyond the
CFB are the undulating hills of the Overberg with erosional outliers of the CFB
that extend as rocky headlands separating sandy beaches along the coast (data
from NASA/JPL-Caltech/NIMA). A black and white version of this figure will
appear in some formats. For the colour version, please refer to the plate section.
Late Middle Pleistocene Early Pleistocene Early Pleistocene Pliocene
(Calabrian) (Gelasian)
H. erectus N.H. Glaciation
+20
500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000
0
Sea level (m)
20
40
60
–75 m
80
100 34
4 8 14
120 10 18 20 22
140 2 6 12 16
H. sapiens
Thousands of years before the present (ka)
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200
30 3.0
mid-Pleistocene
0 transition
3.5
Sea Level (m)
δ18O (0/00)
–30
4.0
–60
32
4.5
–90 28 34
8 14 24 30
4 26 5.0
–120 18 20 22
10
2 6 12 16
–150 5.5
Fig. 6.3. Sea-level fluctuations derived from the composite marine oxygen
isotope record of glacial to interglacial climate cycles (Lisiecki and Raymo,
2005) since 3 Ma (top) (Bintanja and van de Wal, 2008) and since 1.2 Ma
(bottom) (Bintanja et al., 2005). Glacial periods are indicated by even-numbered
marine isotope stages (MIS). Dashed lines mark 0 m and -75 m sea levels (after
Compton, 2011).
The southern African shelf is generally sediment starved (Compton et al.,

2008), but in some places sediment supply was sufficient to influence local sea
level (Compton, 2006). During Quaternary interglacial periods, sea level was
generally as high or up to 25 m higher than today, and the coastal plain was
somewhat reduced in width. However, for most of the Quaternary, sea level was
lower than today and the coastal plain was, in places, significantly wider
(Fig. 6.4), depending primarily on shelf bathymetry (Fig. 6.1). The eastern South
African margin has a narrow shelf that only broadens across the Natal Bight,
north of Durban (Green, 2009; Green and Garlick, 2011). The western South
African margin has a broad shelf but most of it is too deep to be exposed during
glacials (de Wet, 2013). It is only along the southern margin that the coastal plain
underwent considerable expansion during glacials by virtue of the adjacent
shallow-water Agulhas Bank (Fig. 6.4).
The southern coastal plain expands approximately 10% when sea level is
lowered by 45 m and 32% when sea level is lowered by 75 m, and coincides with
several prominent wave-cut platforms (marine terraces) which were formed at
these depths when sea level was lowered between 2.6 and 0.9 Ma (Fig. 6.3).
Knickpoints up to 130 m water depth were cut during glacial maxima since 0.9 Ma
when the amplitude of sea-level fluctuations increased. The width of the southern
92 John S. Compton
200 20 22 24 26
2000
ent
32
Gr
rpm
ea
a
Esc
t
500 1600 800
Great Karoo
CFB
33
WCP
CFB 200
CFB CFB
Klein Karoo
34 34
45
SCP PP
34 30’
ver
r BC
ive
s Ri
R
de 75
urit
e 23 24
Bre
Go
120
S
Agulhas Bank
400
Fig. 6.4. Topography and bathymetry of the southern margin showing the Great
Escarpment, Cape Fold Belt (CFB) and expansion of the western coastal plain
(WCP) and southern coastal plain (SCP) when sea level is lowered by 45, 75 and
120 m (Compton, 2011). River courses are projected onto the glacial coastal plain,
BC: Blombos Cave, PP: Pinnacle Point. A black and white version of this figure will
appear in some formats. For the colour version, please refer to the plate section.
coastal plain expands by up to a factor of five when sea level falls from 75 to 130 m
during glacial maxima (Fig. 6.5) to form one continuous southern African coastal
plain (Figs. 6.1, 6.4).
In general, the coastal plain forms an erosional surface underlain by Precam-
brian, Palaeozoic and Mesozoic bedrock. Cenozoic deposits are dominated by
aeolianite and beach deposits proximal to the present-day shoreline (Roberts
et al., 2006), and represented by drowned lowstand deposits offshore with a number
of prominent linear aeolianite dune ridges on the eastern and southern shelf (Martin
and Flemming, 1987; Cawthra et al., 2012; de Wet, 2013). The extent and
thickness of sand deposits onshore related to barrier dunes and coastal embayments
would have influenced local relative sea level, and are susceptible to redistribution
during sea-level cycles as the strandline migrates across the shelf (Cawthra et al.,
2014). Unlike sand, mud deposits on the shelf do not appear to survive sea-level
fluctuations (Compton and Wiltshire, 2009). The erosion of highstand nutrient-rich
muds in the transitions to Quaternary glacial periods may have enhanced product-
ivity in downstream upwelling regions (Compton et al., 2008).
2
0 – 75
coastal plain
meters
1 75 – 120 below
sea level
Tsitsikammaberge
km
> 120
Sea level 24°Ε

0
–75 m
–120 m
15 km
–1
2
Alphard
coastal Banks
Langeberg
plain sea level 21°Ε

km
0
–75 m –120 m
50 km
–2
Fig. 6.5. Margin profiles at 21 E and 24 E (shown by dotted lines in Fig. 6.6),
showing -75 m wave-cut knickpoints (after Compton, 2011).
6.2 Palaeoenvironments of the coastal plain

The incomplete and highly reworked deposits have made it difficult to reconstruct
Quaternary palaeoenvironments of the glacial lowstand coastal plain. Past coastal
systems likely consisted of a similar mix of rocky and sandy coasts as is found
today. Migration of the high-energy strandline likely eroded down to a hard rock
substrate in areas offshore, where limestone and phosphorite hardgrounds are
overlain by only a thin veneer of Quaternary sand (Bremner and Rogers, 1990). It
is more difficult to establish the palaeoenvironments inland of beach and dune
coastal systems because preserved fluvial, lake and wetland records are commonly
absent prior to the present interglacial (Holocene) as a result of repeated strandline
migration. An alternative approach is to extrapolate today’s known climates and
vegetation biomes (Mucina and Rutherford, 2006) onto the glacial coastal plain
(Fig. 6.6). Extrapolation of modern onshore environments onto modest shelf expan-
sion when sea level was up to 75 m lower is reasonably constrained by known
geological substrates offshore. The problem with such an extrapolation is that
glacial climates were significantly different from those today (Chase and Meadows,
2007), and the substrate may have varied depending on the amount and type of
sediment cover retained on the emergent shelf (Dingle and Rogers, 1972).
During the last glacial maximum when sea level fell by up to 130 m, a small
expansion of modern day vegetation was likely on the east and west coasts of
South Africa because the continental shelf was limited in extent. On the south
coast, where the shelf is wider, it is likely that rocky headlands extended seawards
and constrained vegetation expansion. For example, in the Western Cape the
94 John S. Compton
Upper Nama-Karoo
Sand- Grass land

stone
Succulent Lower Nama-Karoo
Fynbos
Karoo Albany
Shale
Thicket
Sandstone
Fynbos
Renosterveld
Thicket/ Dune Strandveld
Sand fynbos Shale Limestone Fynbos Afrotemperate
Strandveld Renoster Grassland
Ag
forest
(dune and granite) 24oE
ulh
veld? mosaic?
as
Limestone Fynbos –120 m

Ar
Dune Strandveld
ch
21oE
Fig. 6.6. Distribution of major vegetation biomes, simplified from Mucina and
Rutherford (2006), and their proposed extrapolation onto the exposed coastal
plain during periods of lowered sea level (after Compton, 2011). A black and
white version of this figure will appear in some formats. For the colour version,
please refer to the plate section.
resistant Table Mountain Group sandstone can be followed offshore as more subdued
but distinct submarine ridges, which are separated by low-lying areas underlain by
less resistant shales of the Malmesbury and Bokkeveld groups. As is the case today,
fynbos biomes likely dominated sandstone and granite elevated substrates, and the
Renosterveld biome in low-lying valleys underlain by shale (Fig. 6.6).
Extrapolation of vegetation biomes offshore in the area east of Cape Agulhas is
more difficult because of the extensive area of the exposed coastal plain, and given
that the offshore geology is less well known. Only a thin veneer of unconsolidated
sediment covers much of the Agulhas Bank (Rogers, 1971) and it is likely that
migration of the high-energy shoreline would have exposed the underlying Cret-
aceous to Neogene bedrock. However, some areas likely remained covered by
aeolianites, river channel fill or shelf sand sheets not completely eroded away by
strandline migration (Cawthra et al., 2014). Therefore, the exposed Agulhas Bank
was probably a complex mosaic of different rock and sediment substrates. The
offshore Cretaceous shale probably supported vegetation similar to Renosterveld
and Albany thicket in the western and eastern areas, respectively, comparable to
that observed today (Mucina and Rutherford, 2006) (Fig. 6.6). The vegetation of
the more distal Paleogene and Neogene limestones with variable sand and aeolia-
nite cover was perhaps a mix of shrub, grassland and wetland vegetation.
Glacial palaeolandscapes of the exposed coastal plain would have been far more
subdued than the present-day coastal plain, reflecting the low topographic gradient
of the exposed shelf (Figs. 6.2, 6.5). The exposed landscape varied from gently
rolling hills and modest rocky ridges immediately offshore to expansive, low-lying
terrain (flatlands) farther offshore. The flatlands were likely similar to, but more
extensive than, the present-day Agulhas coastal plain and the Cape Flats. The
Breede River valley was defined by a gentle, broad ridge to the east (Alphard Rise)
without many topographic features besides the exceptional pinnacles formed by
volcanic plugs (Alphard Banks). Rivers east of the Breede River, including the
Gouritz River and many other small perennial rivers, were shallowly incised and
meandering across the exposed coastal plain but did not form major incised valleys
(Cawthra et al., 2014). The low topographic gradient would have resulted in
extensive wetlands, lakes, estuaries and lagoons, particularly where these coastal
plains had significant aeolianite dune deposits damming water into lakes, similar to
the modern Wilderness Lakes area (Bateman et al., 2011; Cawthra et al., 2014).
Therefore, the emergent coastal plain flatlands were likely wind-swept shrublands
with dispersed wetlands or lakes landward of dune ridges and a mix of C3 and C4
grasses, herbaceous and riparian vegetation.
How wet the glacial-period coastal plain was would depend on the amount and
seasonality of rainfall. Low-lying areas on the western coastal plain, such as the
Cape Flats, form seasonal wetlands today, but low-lying areas on the southern
coastal plain receive rainfall all year round and may have had perennial wetlands.
Cooler sea surface temperatures are likely to have resulted in less summer rainfall,
but shifting of the westerlies equatorward may have increased winter rainfall
(Chase and Meadows, 2007). The speleothem record from Crevice Cave at Pinna-
cle Point (Western Cape) indicates that rainfall was highly variable on the southern
coastal plain between 90 and 50 kyr BP (Bar-Matthews et al., 2010). The cause of
variability in the Crevice Cave record is uncertain, but superimposed on the long-
term glacial–interglacial climate cycles were short-term climate variations such as
Heinrich events and Dansgaard–Oeschger cycles that may have had an impact on
southern African climate (Zeigler et al., 2013).
6.3 Life on the edge: The coastal plain and human evolution
The major changes outlined here in the extent and palaeoenvironments of the
southern African coastal plain during the Quaternary would have impacted the
animals, including humans, living there. The onset of northern hemisphere
glaciation around 2.6 Ma reflects the 41 kyr obliquity cycle of global climate
variation, during which the build-up of continental ice lowered global sea level
by up to 80 m (Fig. 6.3). The climate rhythm then shifted at the mid-Pleistocene
96 John S. Compton
transition from the modest 41 kyr cycle to the much larger 80–120 kyr glacial–
interglacial cycle (Maslin et al., 2001). It was following the mid-Pleistocene
transition that the coastal plain in southern Africa underwent periodic major
expansions and contractions, responding to global glacial–interglacial cycles
(Fig. 6.3).
There is increasing evidence from the archaeological record of coastal cave sites,
such as at Blombos and Pinnacle Point, indicating that southern Africa was an
important geographical region where hominid evolution took place (Marean,
2010). Owing to the limited expansion of the coastal plain when sea level fell by
up to 75 m, these coastal caves remained within reach of the coast and its rich
resources (van Andel, 1989). In addition to marine resources, the meandering rivers,
wetlands and lakes of the glacial-period coastal plain would have provided a refuge
for animals and humans in search of water and food resources when the interior of
the continent became dry. These bodies of water would have enhanced survival
during periodic droughts by providing a rich source of food when game animals
were reduced farther inland. The riparian vegetation along meandering river banks
and wetlands would have provided a rich source of aquatic foods as well as a local
source of freshwater for those exploiting nearby intertidal marine resources.
During interglacial periods, human populations previously scattered across an
extended coastal plain, would have become isolated or trapped as the coastal plain
contracted, constrained by the CFB mountains (Compton, 2011). Expansion of the
coastal plain during glacial periods would have facilitated access and movement,
including migration to new areas, and the spread of new technologies and gene
flow. Over glacial–interglacial cycles, the periodic expansion and contraction of
the coastal plain may have alternately isolated and connected populations living
along the coast with those in the continental interior. Relatively small groups
isolated for periods of several tens of thousands of years, adapting to the unique
conditions of the coastal plain habitat, may have diverged significantly from other
groups in Africa and promoted rapid human evolution by allopatric speciation
(Compton, 2011).
6.4 Summary
The present-day coastal plain of South Africa is limited in extent by the
elevated terrain of the southern African plateau and the CFB. However, the
width of the coastal plain has varied considerably over Quaternary glacial–
interglacial cycles. Owing to the large, shallow-water Agulhas Bank, the south-
ern coastal plain expanded dramatically during glacial lowstands to form a
continuous and fully connected coastal plain that wrapped around southern
Africa. This made circumventing the mountains of the CFB possible and its
low-lying wetlands and rivers likely served as a refuge to the dry interior. The
opening and closing of the expanded southern coastal plain alternately isolated
and then reconnected populations to provide a potential geographical region of
origin for human populations.
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Quaternary Environmental Change On The Southern African Coastal

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6

Quaternary environmental change on the southern

considered expressions of dynamic topography sustained by the ﬂow of a large

The southern African shelf is generally sediment starved (Compton et al.,

Sea level 24°Ε

plain sea level 21°Ε

6.2 Palaeoenvironments of the coastal plain

Sand- Grass land

Limestone Fynbos –120 m

and Cretaceous Basins of Southern Africa, eds. M. J. de Wit and I. G. D. Ransome.

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