The Place of flat-topped Mountains
The Etendeka Plateau is an unique and in its desolation hauntingly beautiful landscape in the Northwest of Namibia. From the Earth Cache spot you will easily understand why the landscaped is called Etendeka by the local Himbas which means place of flat-topped mountains in their language.
Covering ca. 78.000 square kilometers between the Huab River in the South and the Hoanib River in the North, it rises up 800 metres above the deeply eroded gneisses and metasedimentary rocks of the Palaeoproterozoic Huab Metamorphic Complex to the East, while rising gradually out of the coastal plain in the west.
What it looked like here more than 128.000.000 years ago
Before the continental break-up the Etendeka area was part of a big continent called Gondwana that later split up into Africa, South America and the Antartica (see animation on the right). Even before the opening of the South Atlantic Ocean, the volcanic Tristan hotspot started to melt enormous amounts of rock material and to thin out the continental crust from the inside. 128 to 138 million years ago this magma then flooded the basement complex, solidified as basalt and formed an large igneous province called Paraná-Etendeka traps. Today you can see that that happen before the continental break-up, because the basalt in the Paraná Basin (South American) is exactly the same than here at the Grootberg.
What it looks like here today
Well, see for yourself! The view is absolutely stunning. Your task now is to find out what happend here since Gondwana broke to pieces. A clear and easy understandable information panel on site will guide you through the bygone geological era and provide you with all the answers you need to log the EC.
Log Requirements
Please have a look at the four tasks below and send us the answers via one of our GC profiles (J or ts). After submission you are allowed to log online immediately without waiting for further approval. In case of any discrepancies we will contact you. Please make sure you've sent your e-mail address along with your message so that we can contact you directly.
- What causes the red colour of the mountains in front of you?
- Use the sketch on the information panel on the terrace to identfiy the geological structures labelled as A, B, C, and D in the picture above.
- Name the three major steps that formed the landscape that you gaze at now.
- Take a picture on site and post it along with your online log. The picture has to either show your GPS device or your GC nick name written on a piece of paper or on your hand in front of the valley. In accordance with the updated EC guidelines this is an obligation effective 10th June 2019. Logs without the requested photo proof will be deleted after 24 hours.
How to get there
The nearby Lodge is located in the #Khoadi//Hoas community for conservation and tourism and is completely operated by the local community.
There is a parking lot next to the lodge (see waypoint PU). Please note that the access-road is narrow and very steep. A 4x4 drive is mandatory; additional low range is highly recommended. Alternatively you can leave your car next to the street (see waypoint PD) and either walk up or ask at the gate for a shuttle service (on your own charge).
The owners and managers of Grootberg Lodge know about the Earth Cache and Laurie's Cache so you can refer to "the cache hunt" at the gate and they will let you up.
References