A Pleistocene sand deposit in the northeastern Cape, South Africa: palaeoenvironmental implications

An isolated outlier of red sand, in an incipient stage of diagenesis, is described from the northeastern Cape, South Africa. The deposit is of significance because it is unique in the locality, and is not a product of current geomorphic processes. The locality lies above the Great Escarpment, between 1800 m and 1900 m altitude, at latitude 31°23′S; longitude 26°41′E. The lithology has similarities with Kalahari type sands from the northwestern Cape. A thermoluminescence date of 20500 B.P. places the depositional event in the late Pleistocene. The deposit is attributed to strong aeolian activity during the late Pleistocene hypothermal.