Rehabilitation of National Route R61 (Section 8, Majola Tea to Tombo) Between Mthatha and Port St Johns, Eastern Cape

PALAEONTOLOGICAL HERITAGE STUDY: COMBINED DESKTOP AND FIELD-BASED ASSESSMENT

Rehabilitation of National Route R61 (Section 8, Majola Tea to Tombo) between Mthatha and Port St Johns, Eastern Cape

John E. Almond PhD (Cantab.) Natura Viva cc, PO Box 12410 Mill Street, Cape Town 8010, RSA [email protected]

June 2013

1. SUMMARY

The South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (SANRAL) is proposing to rehabilitate Section 8 of the National Route R61 (Majola Tea km 51 to Tombo km 66) between Mthatha and Port St Johns, Eastern Cape. The proposed work would involve the rehabilitation of the existing road without having to widen the road reserve. Road material is to be sourced from two new borrow pits and one hardrock quarry. This Phase 1 palaeontological heritage assessment for the road project has been commissioned by SRK Consulting, Port Elizabeth, in accordance with the requirements of the National Heritage Resources Act (Act 25 of 1999).

Section 8 of the R61 traverses dark basinal mudrocks of the Ecca Group (Karoo Supergroup) of Early to Middle Permian age that are extensively intruded by dolerites of the Early Jurassic Karoo Dolerite Suite. Bedrock exposure of the Ecca sediments, which are not assigned to a specific formation in this part of the Main Karoo Basin, is generally poor and biased towards road cuttings through more resistant-weathering impure sandstone packages as well as baked sediments adjacent to dolerite intrusions. Potentially fossiliferous mudrock successions are also well represented, however.

No vertebrate, invertebrate or plant body fossils were observed within the Ecca Group sediments within the study area which appear to be at most very sparsely fossiliferous here. The only palaeontological remains recorded within the Ecca bedrocks along Section 8 of the R61 were small-scale invertebrate burrows, some of which are branching and probably referable to the common ichnogenus Chondrites. These trace fossils are common and of fairly low heritage significance, so no special conservation measures are proposed here.

Late Caenozoic gravelly, silty and sandy colluvial and soil deposits observed within R61 road cuttings en route are generally of low palaeontological sensitivity and no fossil or subfossil material was recorded therein during the present field assessment.

Both of the borrow pit sites (BP7, BP9) as well as the proposed new hardrock quarry and its access road are largely underlain by major Karoo dolerite intrusions (sills) and are of no palaeontological heritage significance. The dolerite in most cases is deeply weathered to yield resistant, rounded corestones embedded in friable sabunga. Adjacent sedimentary country rocks of the Ecca and Lower Beaufort Groups have been baked to quartzites and hornfels, compromising their fossil heritage potential. No fossils were observed within these thermally metamorphosed country rocks.

It is concluded that the proposed rehabilitation of Section 8 of the R61 between Mthatha and Port St Johns - including the proposed new borrow pits and hardrock quarry as well as access road and 1 John E. Almond (2013) Natura Viva cc modifications to stormwater structures plus other infrastructural developments - is of LOW palaeontological heritage significance. Pending the discovery of substantial new fossils during before or during development, no further specialist palaeontological studies or mitigation in this respect are considered necessary for this road project.

Should substantial fossil remains be exposed during construction, however, such as vertebrate bones and teeth, plant-rich fossil lenses or dense fossil burrow assemblages, the Environmental Control Officer should safeguard these, preferably in situ, and alert ECPHRA (i.e. The Eastern Cape Provincial Heritage Resources Authority. Contact details: Mr Sello Mokhanya, 74 Alexander Road, King Williams Town 5600; [email protected]) as soon as possible so that appropriate action (e.g. recording, sampling or collection) can be taken by a professional palaeontologist. The palaeontologist concerned with mitigation work will need a valid collection permit from SAHRA. All work should conform to international best practice for palaeontological fieldwork and the study (e.g. data recording fossil collection and curation, final report) should adhere to the minimum standards for Phase 2 palaeontological studies recently published by SAHRA (2013).

These recommendations should be incorporated into the Environmental Management Plan for the road project.

2. OUTLINE OF PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT

The South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (SANRAL) is proposing to rehabilitate Section 8 of the Route R61 between Mthatha and Port St Johns, Eastern Cape, to provide a 25 year design life and to bring it up to National Roads Standards. Section 8 extends from Majola Tea in the west (km 51) to Tombo in the east (km 66) (Fig. 1). The existing road is a single carriageway and stretches along rolling mountainous terrain. It has an average surfaced width of 10.5 m and 1 m gravel shoulders on either side. The proposed work would involve the rehabilitation of the existing road (without having to widen the road reserve). Widening of the road will mainly be limited to the shoulder and six intersections. The widening of shoulders will be accomplished using gabions at shoulder breakpoint. Pavement rework will involve the stabilisation of existing in-situ base and adding a new base layer of 150 mm followed by Cape seal. Sidewalks will also be established at designated points. Damaged concrete and rusted Armco pipe culverts will be replaced either by excavation or by pipe jacking. Road material is to be sourced from two new borrow pits and one hard rock quarry (Fig. 1).

The present combined desktop and field-based palaeontological heritage assessment has been commissioned by SRK Consulting (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd (Contact details: Ground Floor, Bay Suites, 1a Humewood Rd, Humerail, Port Elizabeth, 6001. P O Box 21842, Port Elizabeth, 6000. Tel: +27-(0)41-509-4800. Fax: +27-(0)41-509-4850) as part of the Basic Assessment of the proposed road development, in accordance with the requirements of the National Heritage Resources Act (Act 25 of 1999). This study will also contribute to environmental management plans for the borrow pits and hard rock quarry developments.

2 John E. Almond (2013) Natura Viva cc

Pit 7 Quarry

Pit 9

Fig. 1. Extract from 1: 250 000 topographical map 3128 Mthatha (Courtesy of the Chief Directorate: National Geo-spatial Information, Mowbray) showing the location of the R61 Section 8 between Majola Tea and Tombo, Eastern Cape (emphasized in orange), as well as of the proposed new hardrock quarry (blue rectangle) and two borrow pits (blue triangles). Scale bar = c. 10 km.

3 John E. Almond (2013) Natura Viva cc 2.1. Legislative context – the National Heritage Resources Act (1999)

The extent of the proposed development (over 5000 m2 or linear development of over 300m) falls within the requirements for a Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) as required by Section 38 (Heritage Resources Management) of the South African National Heritage Resources Act (Act No. 25 of 1999). The various categories of heritage resources recognised as part of the National Estate in Section 3 of the National Heritage Resources Act include, among others:

 geological sites of scientific or cultural importance  palaeontological sites  palaeontological objects and material, meteorites and rare geological specimens

According to Section 35 of the National Heritage Resources Act, dealing with archaeology, palaeontology and meteorites:

(1) The protection of archaeological and palaeontological sites and material and meteorites is the responsibility of a provincial heritage resources authority. (2) All archaeological objects, palaeontological material and meteorites are the property of the State. (3) Any person who discovers archaeological or palaeontological objects or material or a meteorite in the course of development or agricultural activity must immediately report the find to the responsible heritage resources authority, or to the nearest local authority offices or museum, which must immediately notify such heritage resources authority. (4) No person may, without a permit issued by the responsible heritage resources authority— (a) destroy, damage, excavate, alter, deface or otherwise disturb any archaeological or palaeontological site or any meteorite; (b) destroy, damage, excavate, remove from its original position, collect or own any archaeological or palaeontological material or object or any meteorite; (c) trade in, sell for private gain, export or attempt to export from the Republic any category of archaeological or palaeontological material or object, or any meteorite; or (d) bring onto or use at an archaeological or palaeontological site any excavation equipment or any equipment which assist in the detection or recovery of metals or archaeological and palaeontological material or objects, or use such equipment for the recovery of meteorites. (5) When the responsible heritage resources authority has reasonable cause to believe that any activity or development which will destroy, damage or alter any archaeological or palaeontological site is under way, and where no application for a permit has been submitted and no heritage resources management procedure in terms of section 38 has been followed, it may— (a) serve on the owner or occupier of the site or on the person undertaking such development an order for the development to cease immediately for such period as is specified in the order; (b) carry out an investigation for the purpose of obtaining information on whether or not an archaeological or palaeontological site exists and whether mitigation is necessary; (c) if mitigation is deemed by the heritage resources authority to be necessary, assist the person on whom the order has been served under paragraph (a) to apply for a permit as required in subsection (4); and (d) recover the costs of such investigation from the owner or occupier of the land on which it is believed an archaeological or palaeontological site is located or from the person proposing to undertake the development if no application for a permit is received within two weeks of the order being served.

Minimum standards for the palaeontological component of heritage impact assessment reports have been developed by SAHRA (2013).

4 John E. Almond (2013) Natura Viva cc 2.2. Approach used for this palaeontological study

The brief for the present palaeontological specialist study, as defined by SRK Consulting, is as follows:

A phase one palaeontological impact assessment of the proposed rehabilitation of the R61 Section 8 between Mthatha and Port St Johns including:

 The road upgrade for the Route R61 from Majola Tea (km 51) to Tombo (km 66) (30 m each side of the road);  Two borrow pits (i.e. Borrow Pit 6 and Borrow Pit 7);  One quarry (i.e. Quarry 9); and  The new access road to Quarry 9.

This report provides a basic assessment of the observed or inferred palaeontological heritage within the Mthatha – Port St John study area, with recommendations for any specialist palaeontological mitigation where this is considered necessary. The report is based on (1) a review of the relevant scientific literature, (2) geological maps, (3) previous palaeontological heritage assessments for other developments in the broader study region (e.g. Almond 2011, Almond 2012, Gess 2012), (4) the author’s field experience with the formations concerned and their palaeontological heritage, and (5) a two-day field assessment on 21-22 June 2013 carried out by the author.

In preparing a palaeontological desktop study the potentially fossiliferous rock units (groups, formations etc) represented within the study area are determined from geological maps and satellite images. The known fossil heritage within each rock unit is inventoried from the published scientific literature, previous palaeontological impact studies in the same region, and the author’s field experience (Consultation with professional colleagues as well as examination of institutional fossil collections may play a role here, or later during the compilation of the final report). This data is then used to assess the palaeontological sensitivity of each rock unit to development (Provisional tabulations of palaeontological sensitivity of all formations in the Western, Eastern and Northern Cape have already been compiled by J. Almond and colleagues; e.g. Almond et al. 2008). The likely impact of the proposed development on local fossil heritage is then determined on the basis of (1) the palaeontological sensitivity of the rock units concerned and (2) the nature of the development itself, most notably the extent of fresh bedrock excavation envisaged.

When rock units of moderate to high palaeontological sensitivity are present within the development footprint, a field assessment study by a professional palaeontologist is usually warranted. Most detrimental impacts on palaeontological heritage occur during the construction phase when fossils may be disturbed, destroyed or permanently sealed-in during excavations and subsequent construction activity. Where specialist palaeontological mitigation is recommended, this may take place before construction starts or, most effectively, during the construction phase while fresh, potentially fossiliferous bedrock is still exposed for study. Mitigation usually involves the judicious sampling, collection and recording of fossils as well as of relevant contextual data concerning the surrounding sedimentary matrix. It should be emphasised that, provided appropriate mitigation is carried out, many developments involving bedrock excavation actually have a positive impact on our understanding of local palaeontological heritage. Constructive collaboration between palaeontologists and developers should therefore be the expected norm.

The focus of the field-based assessment work is not simply to survey the development footprint or even the development area as a whole (e.g. farms or other parcels of land concerned in the development). Rather, the palaeontologist seeks to assess or predict the diversity, density and distribution of fossils within and beneath the study area, as well as their heritage or scientific interest. This is primarily achieved through a careful field examination of one or more representative exposures of all the sedimentary rock units present (N.B. Metamorphic and igneous rocks rarely contain fossils). The best rock exposures are generally those that are easily accessible, extensive, and fresh (i.e. unweathered) and include a large fraction of the stratigraphic 5 John E. Almond (2013) Natura Viva cc unit concerned (e.g. formation). These exposures may be natural or artificial and include, for example, rocky outcrops in stream or river banks, cliffs, quarries, dams, dongas, open building excavations or road and railway cuttings. Uncemented superficial deposits, such as alluvium, scree or wind-blown sands, may occasionally contain fossils and should also be included in the scoping study where they are well-represented in the study area. It is normal practice for impact palaeontologists to collect representative, well-localized (e.g. GPS and stratigraphic data) samples of fossil material during field assessment studies. However, fossil collection should be supported by a permit from the relevant heritage heritage authority and all fossil material collected must be properly curated within an approved repository (usually a museum or university collection).

Before fieldwork commenced, a preliminary screening of satellite images and 1: 50 000 maps of the R61 study area was conducted to identify any sites of potentially good bedrock exposure to be examined in the field. These sites might include, for example, natural exposures (e.g. stream beds, rocky slopes, stream gullies) as well as artificial exposures such as quarries, dams and cuttings along farm tracks.

Note that while fossil localities recorded during fieldwork within the study area itself are obviously highly relevant, most fossil heritage here is embedded within rocks beneath the land surface or obscured by surface deposits (soil, alluvium etc) and by vegetation cover. In many cases where levels of fresh (i.e. unweathered) bedrock exposure are low, the hidden fossil resources have to be inferred from palaeontological observations made from better exposures of the same formations elsewhere in the region but outside the immediate study area. Therefore a palaeontologist might reasonably spend far more time examining road cuts and borrow pits close to, but outside, the study area than within the study area itself. Field data from localities even further afield (e.g. an adjacent province) may also be adduced to build up a realistic picture of the likely fossil heritage within the study area.

On the basis of the desktop and field assessment studies, the likely impact of the proposed development on local fossil heritage and any need for specialist mitigation are then determined. Adverse palaeontological impacts normally occur during the construction rather than the operational or decommissioning phase. Mitigation by a professional palaeontologist – normally involving the recording and sampling of fossil material and associated geological information (e.g. sedimentological data) – is usually most effective during the construction phase when fresh fossiliferous bedrock has been exposed by excavations, although pre-construction recording of surface-exposed material may sometimes be more appropriate. To carry out mitigation, the palaeontologist involved will need to apply for a palaeontological collection permit from the relevant heritage management authority (i.e. The Eastern Cape Provincial Heritage Resources Authority or ECPHRA. Contact details: Mr Sello Mokhanya, 74 Alexander Road, King Williams Town 5600; [email protected]). It should be emphasized that, providing appropriate mitigation is carried out, the majority of developments involving bedrock excavation can make a positive contribution to our understanding of local palaeontological heritage.

2.3. Assumptions & limitations

The accuracy and reliability of palaeontological specialist studies as components of heritage impact assessments are generally limited by the following constraints:

1. Inadequate database for fossil heritage for much of the RSA, given the large size of the country and the small number of professional palaeontologists carrying out fieldwork here. Most development study areas have never been surveyed by a palaeontologist.

2. Variable accuracy of geological maps which underpin these desktop studies. For large areas of terrain these maps are largely based on aerial photographs alone, without ground-truthing. The maps generally depict only significant (“mappable”) bedrock units as well as major areas of superficial “drift” deposits (alluvium, colluvium) but for most regions give little or no idea of the level of bedrock outcrop, depth of superficial cover (soil etc), degree of bedrock weathering or levels of small-scale tectonic deformation, such as cleavage. All of these factors may have a major 6 John E. Almond (2013) Natura Viva cc influence on the impact significance of a given development on fossil heritage and can only be reliably assessed in the field.

3. Inadequate sheet explanations for geological maps, with little or no attention paid to palaeontological issues in many cases, including poor locality information.

4. The extensive relevant palaeontological “grey literature” - in the form of unpublished university theses, impact studies and other reports (e.g. of commercial mining companies) - that is not readily available for desktop studies.

5. Absence of a comprehensive computerized database of fossil collections in major RSA institutions which can be consulted for impact studies. A Karoo fossil vertebrate database is now accessible for impact study work.

In the case of palaeontological desktop studies without supporting Phase 1 field assessments these limitations may variously lead to either:

(a) underestimation of the palaeontological significance of a given study area due to ignorance of significant recorded or unrecorded fossils preserved there, or

(b) overestimation of the palaeontological sensitivity of a study area, for example when originally rich fossil assemblages inferred from geological maps have in fact been destroyed by tectonism or weathering, or are buried beneath a thick mantle of unfossiliferous “drift” (soil, alluvium etc).

Since most areas of the RSA have not been studied palaeontologically, a palaeontological desktop study usually entails inferring the presence of buried fossil heritage within the study area from relevant fossil data collected from similar or the same rock units elsewhere, sometimes at localities far away. Where substantial exposures of bedrocks or potentially fossiliferous superficial sediments are present in the study area, the reliability of a palaeontological impact assessment may be significantly enhanced through field assessment by a professional palaeontologist.

The main limitation during the present field-based basic assessment of palaeontological heritage along Section 8 of the R61 was the low level of fresh bedrock exposure. Cuttings tend to be developed where the road intersects resistant-weathering dolerite intrusions, baked country rocks within their thermal aureoles, as well and thick sandstone packages (forming topographic highs) while potentially fossilferous unbaked mudrock units are under-represented since they weather more easily and therefore generate little topographic relief. Nevertheless, confidence levels for the present palaeontological assessment, based on both fieldwork and desktop studies, are moderately high.

7 John E. Almond (2013) Natura Viva cc Pit 7 Quarry Pit 9

Fig. 2. Extract from 1: 250 000 geology sheet 3128 Umtata (Council for Geoscience, Pretoria) showing the location of Section 8 of the R61 between Mthatha and Port St Johns (emphasized in yellow) as well as of the proposed new quarry (blue rectangle) and borrow pits (red triangles). Scale bar = c. 10 km. Section 8 traverses the outccrop area of the Ecca Group (Pe, orange) which is extensively intruded and baked by sills and dykes of the Karoo Dolerite Suite (Jd, pink areas and red linees respectively). The Pit 7 and Pit 9 study areas are underlain by Ecca Group country rocks intruded by substantial dolerite bodies. The quarry study area is underlain by Karoo dolerite that here intrudes the Adelaide Subgroup (+ Lower Beaufort Group, Pa, green).

8 John E. Almond (2013) Natura Viva cc 2. GEOLOGICAL CONTEXT

The R61 study area lies between c. 700 m amsl (hard rock quarry) and 260 m amsl (Tombo) on the eastern edge of the Interior Plateau of southern Africa. It falls within the coastal section of the physiographic region referred to as the South-eastern Middleveld, between the Drakensberg and the Indian Ocean (Visser et al. 1989). This is highly-dissected, mountainous country with gentle to steep, well-vegetated hill slopes and usually very limited bedrock exposure (Fig. 3). The road generally runs along the narrow interfluves between deeply incised valleys and settlements are likewise concentrated in these elevated areas. The high-lying land surface towards Mthatha and its more coastal relicts belong to the Post-African 1 surface of Miocene age identified by Partridge and Maud (1987, 2000; see also Maud 2008).

Fig. 3. Scenic view from the R61 towards the NE in the Majola Tea area showing the highly- dissected, mountainous terrain and pervasive vegetation cover in the study area between Mthatha and Port St Johns.

The geology of the R61 study region is shown on the 1: 250 000 scale geological map 3128 Umtata (Council for Geoscience, Pretoria; Karpeta & Johnson 1979) (Fig. 2) and is dominated by sedimentary rocks of the Karoo Supergroup (Johnson et al. 2006). Section 8 of the R61 is largely underlain by Early to Middle Permian basinal (non-marine) mudrocks of the Ecca Group (Pe; Kungurian to Tatarian). The Ecca sedimentary succession here is extensively intruded and thermally metamorphosed or “baked” by Early Jurassic basic intrusions of the Karoo Dolerite Suite (Jd) (Duncan & Marsh 2006). These dolerite intrusions comprise narrow, steeply inclined dykes (thin red lines on the geological map, Fig. 2) and generally more voluminous, shallow- dipping sills (larger pink areas in Fig. 2).

In many areas the Karoo Supergroup bedrock are overlain by deep (up to several meters or more) colluvial or residual soils. Patches of reddish brown on satellite images suggest well-developed lateritic (ferruginous) soils in the region, a reflection of deep chemical weathering of bedrocks under warm, humid conditions since Tertiary or even Cretaceous times that has also affected the near-surface sedimentary and igneous bedrocks. Other Late Caenozoic superficial deposits include colluvium (dolerite or sandstone scree etc), alluvium, and various soils. These younger deposits mantle considerable portions of the Karoo Supergroup outcrop area, especially where the 9 John E. Almond (2013) Natura Viva cc successions are dominated by more easily-weathered and eroded mudrocks. In general levels of sedimentary bedrock exposure in the Eastern Cape study area are poor, due to this superficial sediment mantle as well as vegetation cover. Informative exposures are mainly confined to occasional road cuttings, incised river banks and steeper hill slopes as well as farm dams.

GPS data for all localities mentioned in the text are provided in the Appendix.

2.1. Ecca Group

The Ecca Group succession in the south-eastern portion of the Main Karoo Basin near Port St Johns is not clearly differentiated into a series of well-differentiated formations (Johnson et al. 1996, 2006) (Fig. 4). According to Karpeta and Johnson (1979) the undifferentiated Ecca Group succession here comprises some 900 m of dark, rhythmically-bedded, well-laminated mudrocks (shales, rhythmitites) with intermittent thin sandy units. Dominant depositional processes in the offshore epicontinental basin here were suspension settling with occasional influx of fine-grained distal turbidites and tempestite (storm) sandstones. The generally held view is that the Ecca Sea was a largely land-locked, non-marine depository (e.g. McLachlan & Anderson 1973) but the presence of the mineral glauconite in the Vryheid Formation as well as the recent report of a marine megadesmid bivalve from the upper Volksrust Formation in KZN suggests that a degree of marine influence persisted into Late Permian times in this portion of the Main Karoo Basin at least (Cairncross et al. 2005).

Fig. 4. Outline geological map of the Main Karoo Basin (modified from Johnson 2009) showing the undifferentiated Ecca Group outcrop area in the Port St Johns area of the Eastern Cape Province (red rectangle).

10 John E. Almond (2013) Natura Viva cc The Ecca Group rocks in the study region comprise a fairly monotonous succession of dark grey, tabular-bedded, basinal mudrocks that is flat-lying to gently dipping (W, NW) and youngs broadly towards the west, from the lower contact with the Dwyka Group east of Tombo to the upper contact with the Lower Beaufort Group west of the Majola Tea intersection (Fig. 2). The Ecca rocks are well exposed in a number of road cuttings along Section 8 of the R61 (See Figs. 5 to 12), although they are sometimes deeply weathered and / or obscured by grassy vegetation. Dips may be higher in the vicinity of dolerite intrusions. Tectonic cleavage is not well developed, but closely-spaced, steeply inclined jointing may mimic bedding in places (e.g. Loc. 294, Fig. 7). The Ecca beds are locally transected and displaced by minor faults associated with brecciation, secondary mineralisation and deeper levels of chemical weathering (e.g. Loc. 303).

The dominant Ecca facies is tabular-bedded, dark grey, finely-laminated or massive, thin- to medium-bedded siltstones and claystones, occasionally micaceous, with very subordinate wackes (impure sandstones). Sandy event beds are uncommon. The laminated mudrocks show flaky weathering except where they are baked by dolerite intrusion where regular blocky jointing of resistant beds is seen. Rare thin (cm-scale), laterally persistent, yellowish to buff horizons may represent volcanic tuffs (e.g. Locs. 296, 309).

Some Ecca zones feature multiple, prominent-weathering horizons of oblate to lenticular diagenetic nodules (e.g. Fig. 5). These may coalesce laterally and give the false appearance of sandstone event beds. They include pale buff to greyish lenticles up to several cm thick and several meters across (possibly siliceous), as well as thicker (several dm) oblate concretions of rusty-brown material, probably ferruginous carbonate. The latter may displace country rock lamination and sometimes display well-developed cone-in-cone structures round the periphery, indicating a late diagenetic origin (mineral growth under considerable overburden pressure), as well as associated slickenside-like striated surfaces (Fig. 6).

Chemical weathering of the Ecca sediments beneath the Post-African 1 surface has led to the development of a thick (several meters or more), pale-hued, friable saprolite zone (in situ weathered bedrock) that may reach down to road level (Fig. 12).

An extensive zone of coarse-grained, brown-weathering wackes (impure sandstones) occurs in several R61 road cuttings some 20 km or so west of Port St Johns (e.g. Locs. 299a, 304, 306). The rocks are thin- to medium-bedded, tabular or occasionally lenticular with locally erosive bases, and internally laminated to massive. At Loc. 304 a possible large-scale incised channel feature is seen, infilled by a heterolithic succession of grey-green wackes and thin, darker grey laminated mudrock interbeds (Figs. 9 & 10). Just to the east and west of the Borrow Pit 9 study site similar wackes are intruded and baked by dolerite (Fig. 23). At Loc. 306 a thick package of brown-weathering, dark grey, speckled, tabular wackes is overlain by a succession of grey mudrocks with thin wacke interbeds (locally ferruginised) (Fig. 8). The presence of upward-coarsening or –fining cycles here was not determined due to poor exposure. Karpeta and Johnson (1979) mention a 70 m – thick package of feldspathic greywacke some 30 km west of Port St Johns. This may be laterally equivalent to the deltaic Vryheid Formation that forms the middle portion of the Ecca Group succession to the north, for example in KZN (Fig. 4).

Within the thermal aureoles of major dolerite intrusions the Ecca sediments have been baked to resistant-weathering, blocky-jointed dark grey hornfels, sometimes developing conchoidal fracture, and buff, splintery quartzites (e.g. Locs. 296, 309) (Fig. 11). Diagenetic nodules have been secondarily silicified. The contact between the dolerite and overlying baked country rocks is well seen in a small roadside quarry at Loc. 309 (Fig. 17).

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Fig. 5. Grey basinal mudrocks of the Ecca Group just to the east of Majola Tea showing numerous, closely-spaced horizons of diagenetic concretions giving the misleading impression of sandstone interbeds (Loc. 293).

Fig. 6. Large oblate diagenetic nodule (probably of ferruginous carbonate) from the Ecca Group (Loc. 309) with cone-in-cone structures around the periphery. The scale bar = c. 15 cm.

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Fig. 7. Steep, closely-spaced joints cutting the Ecca Group mudrocks at Loc. 294. The true bedding here is subhorizontal (Hammer = 27 cm).

Fig. 8. Package of tabular-bedded brownish wackes overlain by grey mudrocks with thin wacke interbeds, gently dipping Ecca Group at Loc. 306.

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Fig. 9. Possible large channel-like feature defined by a thin, recessive-weathering mudrock at the base (at level of hammer) and infilled with grey-green wackes with mudrock interbeds, Ecca Group road cutting at Loc. 304 (Hammer = 27 cm).

Fig. 10. Detail of heterolithic channelled wacke / mudrock succession shown in the previous figure (Hammer = 27 cm) (Loc. 304).

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Fig. 11. Ecca Group mudrocks in road cutting at Loc. 296 showing blocky-weathering, well- jointed, tabular beds of baked hornfels in the lower part of the section.

Fig. 12. Deeply-weathered, pale-hued Ecca Group saprolite mantled by brown soils and colluvial gravels (Loc. 305).

15 John E. Almond (2013) Natura Viva cc 2.2. Karoo Dolerite Suite

The Permian Ecca Group sediments within the study area are extensively intruded and thermally metamorphosed (baked) by igneous bodies of the Karoo Dolerite Suite (Jd). These Early Jurassic (c. 183 Ma) basic intrusions were emplaced during crustal doming and stretching that preceded the break-up of Gondwana (Duncan and Marsh 2006). The hot dolerite magma baked adjacent Karoo Supergroup mudrocks and sandstones to form dark grey, splintery hornfels and quartzites respectively.

Karoo dolerite intrusions, including both steeply-inclined to subvertical dykes as well as more gently inclined, subconformable to transgressive sills, are well-represented in road cuttings along the R61, including the two borrow pit sites, as well as at the hard rock quarry site. The resistant- weathering baked country rocks are likewise well-exposed in road cuttings along Section 8 (e.g. Loc. 296, Fig. 11).

2.2.1. Hardrock quarry study area

The proposed hardrock quarry will be excavated into a thick dolerite sill to the south of the settlement of Bhakaneni (See geological map Fig. 2). The study site is located on the east-facing slopes of a deeply-incised stream valley, along the floor of which are mapped sediments of the Lower Beaufort Group (Adelaide Subgroup). A good section through well-jointed, fresh, grey, speckled, coarse-grained dolerite of the sill is seen in the existing dam to the west of the proposed quarry site (Fig. 13, Loc.284). Orange-brown lateritic saprolite with isolated corestones derived from the deeply-weathered upper part of the dolerite intrusion is preserved along the ridge crests and is well-exposed in road cuttings along the R61, here capped by darker orange-brown soil (Loc. 287, Fig. 15). On the valley slopes fresher, well-jointed dolerite is covered by thin dark brown soils where the laterite has been denuded, with local accumulations of blocky doleritic colluvium. Relict brown-weathering, subrounded, boulder-sized corestones and angular joint blocks with pitted surfaces are seen just to the west of the proposed quarry site (Loc. 285, Fig. 14). The proposed approach road to the hardrock quarry overlies dolerite throughout its length. Good exposures of baked Beaufort Group metasediments were not observed here, but might be present in erosive dongas closer to the valley floor (where they will be mantled with thick colluvial and alluvial deposits) as well as building cliffs to the southeast. The intensely baked sedimentary rocks are unlikely to yield useful fossil material.

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Fig. 13. Fresh, grey, well-jointed dolerite exposed in an existing quarry to the west of the proposed hard rock quarry site (Loc. 284). The brown-hued rocks above are weathered dolerite.

Fig. 14. Downwasted boulder-sized corestones showng surface pitting, hillslope just west of the proposed hardrock quarry site (Loc. 285) (Hammer = 27 cm). Note orange-red lateritic soils seen in the upper slopes of valley in the background.

17 John E. Almond (2013) Natura Viva cc

Fig. 15. Deeply-weathered dolerite sill with sparse relict corestones and overlying deep orange-brown lateritic soils, R61 road cutting to the north of the proposed hardrock quarry (Loc. 287).

Fig. 16. Weathered grey-green dolerite showing subrounded corestones defined by well- developed jointing, Loc. 310 (Hammer = 27 cm).

18 John E. Almond (2013) Natura Viva cc

Fig. 17. Contact between a dolerite sill and overlying baked Ecca Group sediments exposed in a small roadside quarry, Loc. 309 (Hammer = 27 cm).

2.2.2. Borrow Pit 7 study area

The study area for the proposed Borrow Pit 7 near the Majola Tea turnoff (Locs. 288 to 292) is largely underlain by a dolerite intrusion whose contacts with the sedimentary country rocks – mapped as Ecca Group (Fig. 2), but poorly exposed in road cuttings – also occur here. The Karoo sediments seen in the eastern portion of the study area dip gently towards the west and are generally baked, highly-jointed, brittle and weathered. They comprise pale buff quartzite packages interbedded with flaky-weathering, dark grey mudrocks or more resistant, blocky-weathering hornfels (Fig. 18). The bedrocks here are capped by reddish-brown platy colluvial gravels and brown soils or lateritic soils. Towards the west the road cutting transects deeply-weathered, friable, pale grey-green, speckled dolerite (sabunga) with relict corestones and good examples of onionskin weathering. This saprolite is overlain by thick (up to several meters locally) deep reddish- brown lateritic soils (Figs. 19 and 20).

19 John E. Almond (2013) Natura Viva cc

Fig. 18. Eastern portion of the Borrow Pit 7 study area (Loc. 288) showing baked quartzitic (orange-brown) and hornfels (dark grey) of the Ecca Group, gently dipping towards the west.

Fig. 19. Deeply weathered dolerite sill (sabunga) overlain by deep orange-brown lateritic soils in the central part of the Borrow Pit 7 study area, Loc. 291 (Hammer = 27 cm).

20 John E. Almond (2013) Natura Viva cc

Fig. 20. Detail of the pale, weathered dolerite sabunga seen in the previous figure showing well-developed onionskin weathering (Hammer = 27 cm) (Loc. 291).

2.2.3. Borrow Pit 9 study area

The Borrow Pit 9 study area near the community of Lokweni (Locs. 307-308) is largely underlain by a thick, deeply-weathered dolerite sill. Road cuttings expose grey-green massive sabunga, relict corestones, onion skin weathering and small dykes of fresher, finer-grained igneous rock (probably basalt or fine-grained dolerite) up to half a meter wide (Figs. 21 & 22). The dolerite is intruded into the extensive wacke zone of the Ecca Group described earlier. Baked wackes are exposed towards the eastern end of, as well as to the west of, the pit study site (Fig. 23). Here blocky jointed, baked grey-green wackes and darker mudrocks are exposed. The bedrocks are overlain by thin orange-brown lateritic soils, as well as younger dark brown and pale brown soils.

21 John E. Almond (2013) Natura Viva cc

Fig. 21. R61 roadcutting exposure through a thick, highly-weathered dolerite sill at the Borrow Pit 9 study site (Loc. 307).

Fig. 22. Narrow (c. 0.5 m), steeply inclined igneous dyke cross-cutting the dolerite sill seen in the previous figure (Hammer = 27 cm) (Loc. 307).

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Fig. 23. Eastern sector of the Borrow Pit 9 study area showing contact between baked bedded wackes of the Ecca Group (centre right) and massive weathered dolerite (bottom left), Loc. 307.

2.3. Late Caenozoic superficial deposits

Various types of superficial deposits (“drift”) of Late Caenozoic (largely Quaternary to Recent) age occur widely throughout the study area between Mthatha and Port St Johns. They include colluvial slope deposits (e.g. sandstone and dolerite scree, debris flows), sheet wash, stream and river channel alluvium and terrace gravels, as well as various soils (Partridge et al. 2006). In practice, a high proportion of the Karoo sedimentary bedrocks are in fact mantled by superficial deposits in the broader study region, especially in lower-lying regions underlain by mudrock-rich successions.

Deeply weathered dolerite intrusions are often overlain by downwasted dolerite corestones (Fig. 14) and finer colluvial gravels with orange-brown lateritic soils (Fig. 19), while brown soils are developed over fresher dolerite outcrops.

Good road cutting sections through infilled erosional channels into Ecca Group mudrocks that are up to several meters deep are seen at Loc. 301. The channels are infilled with a range of colluvial deposits, with several meters of chaotic breccias composed of angular laminated mudrock blocks within a sandy matrix fining upwards to pale brown weathered shale gravels (Figs. 24 & 25).

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Fig. 24. Wide erosional channel into dark Grey Ecca Group mudrocks infilled by coarse basal mudrock breccias that are overlain by grey-brown finer gravels and then brown gravelly soils, Loc. 302.

Fig. 25. Detail of chaotic, coarse channel breccia deposits incised into grey Ecca mudrocks, Loc. 302.

24 John E. Almond (2013) Natura Viva cc 3. PALAEONTOLOGICAL HERITAGE

The fossil heritage that has been previously recorded from the main rock units that are represented in the R61 study area between Majola Tea and Tombo is briefly outlined here as well as palaeontological observations from the present fieldwork. GPS data for all localities mentioned in the text are provided in the Appendix.

3.1. Fossils within the Ecca Group

The Early to Middle Permian fossil heritage of the undifferentiated, basinal, mudrock-dominated Ecca Group succession in the Port St Johns area is very sparse and poorly-known. This is partially, but not entirely, attributable to poor levels of bedrock exposure, baking by dolerite intrusions, and extensive near-surface weathering in the region as a whole. According to Du Toit and Rogers (1917) as well as Karpeta and Johnson (1979) body fossils have not been recorded from the Ecca beds here but trace fossils - described as “fucoid-like impressions” from their superficial resemblance to seaweeds - are locally very abundant. The following fossil groups may occur, albeit sparsely, within the Ecca Group study area in the Port St Johns region:

 acritarchs (organic-walled microfossils);  megadesmid bivalves or other freshwater molluscs;  rare temnospondyl amphibian remains;  vertebrate microfossils (e.g. fish teeth, spines, scales) within diagenetic nodules;  wind-blown insect remains;  petrified woods (“Dadoxylon”) or other drifted terrigenous plant material;  low-diversity trace fossils assemblages of the Cruziana, Scoyenia and – especially - Mermia ichnofacies.

A recent palaeontological study by Gess (2012) in the Tombo – Mafini area (Port St Johns Local Municipality) reported unidentifiable fine plant debris within various facies of the Ecca Group, including fine- and coarse-grained mudstones.

High levels of bedrock weathering (e.g. shaley fragmentation, chemical alteration) and very restricted availability of good bedding plane exposures of the Ecca Group sediments are serious limitations to fossil recognition and collection from these sediments. The best bedding planes are seen within the thermal aureoles of dolerite intrusions, where baking may have compromised some fossil material. Numerous bedding surfaces were examined on blocks of recently excavated rubble at Tombo village (ongoing road construction works) but these surfaces are generally obscured by dirt, so once again fossils are difficult to see.

No body fossils (e.g. shells, vertebrate bones and teeth, plant remains) were recorded from the Ecca Group sediments in the R61 study area. Microfossils, including organic-walled palynomorphs as well as microvertebrate remains (e.g. disarticulated fish scales, teeth) may be preserved within at least the earlier diagenetic nodules, as seen, for example, in the contemporary Tierberg Formation of the western Ecca Basin, but these have not yet been analysed in the study region.

The only fossils observed in the study area are widely occurring but very low-diversity trace fossil assemblages dominated by horizontal burrows of up to 1 cm in width, but generally much smaller (few mm). These traces occur abundantly within mudrocks, micaceous siltstones as well as wacke facies. Preservation of the endichnial to epichnial burrows is very variable, from flat, smooth structureless compressions (variously paler or darker than the matrix, or secondarily ferruginised within hornfels) to shallow epichnial furrows or ridges (Figs. 26, 28). Cylindrical burrows are occasionally preserved as hollow tubes (e.g. within diagenetic nodules) that are sometimes partially infilled with powdery secondary minerals (Fig. 27). Some of these apparently simple

25 John E. Almond (2013) Natura Viva cc burrows may actually be fragments of more complex burrow systems, such as Chondrites discussed next.

Clearly branching, seaweed-like burrows (the “fucoids” of earlier authors) up to 3 mm wide were recorded from hornfels at the quarry site Loc. 309 (Fig. 29). They are provisionally assigned to the long-ranging ichnogenus Chondrites. This genus includes endichnial branching feeding burrows that were typically associated with quiet water, low-oxygen environments (e.g. dysaerobic muds) and that were possibly constructed by chemosymbionts (e.g. Seilacher 2007). Ichnoassemblages dominated by Chondrites can be expected in the deeper water, offshore basinal mudrocks of the Ecca Sea. It should be noted that carbonaceous compressions of branching horizontal burrows and of vascular plants may be difficult to distinguish, and the two may be easily confused. However, substantial quantities of terrigenous plant are not expected in offshore Ecca mudrocks. Fern- or moss-like dendrites of the manganese mineral pyrolusite are also common locally; these pseudofossils can also be easily mistaken for plant fossils.

Fig. 26. Secondarily ferruginised horizontal burrows within baked, weathered mudrocks at the Borrow Pit 7 study site (Scale in cm) (Loc. 289).

26 John E. Almond (2013) Natura Viva cc

Fig. 27. Pale grey diagenetic concretion within the Ecca Group preserving dense assemblages of hollow tubular burrows, Loc. 294 (Scale in cm).

Fig. 28. Abundant, narrow, simple horizontal burrows within laminated, baked mudrocks of the Ecca Group, Loc. 309 (Scale in cm). N.B. Some of these may represent fragments of more complex burrow systems as seen in the following figure.

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Fig. 29. Plant-like branching burrow system, possibly of the ichnogenus Chondrites, within baked mudrocks of the Ecca Group, Loc.309. The thicker “stem” of the burrow is c. 3 mm wide.

3.2. Fossils in the Karoo Dolerite Suite

Dolerite outcrops within the study area are in themselves of no palaeontological significance since these are high temperature igneous rocks emplaced at depth within the Earth’s crust. However, as a consequence of their proximity to large dolerite intrusions the adjacent Karoo Supergroup sediments have often been thermally metamorphosed or “baked” (i.e. recrystallised, impregnated with secondary minerals). Embedded fossil material of phosphatic composition, such as bones and teeth, was frequently altered by baking. Bones may become blackened and they can be very difficult to extract from the hard matrix by mechanical preparation. Thermal metamorphism by dolerite intrusions therefore tends to reduce the palaeontological heritage potential of adjacent Karoo Supergroup sediments.

No vertebrate bones or teeth, or other fossil remains, were recorded within baked metasediments associated with dolerite intrusions in the R61 study area. This includes the two borrow pit and hard rock quarry study areas.

3.3. Fossils in Late Caenozoic superficial sediments

Late Caenozoic superficial deposits such as stream and river alluvium or soils may occasionally contain important fossil biotas, notably the bones, teeth and horn cores of mammals (e.g. Pleistocene mammal faunas at Florisbad, Cornelia and Erfkroon, Free State and elsewhere; Wells & Cooke 1942, Cooke 1974, Skead 1980, Klein 1984, Brink, J.S. 1987, Bousman et al. 1988, Bender & Brink 1992, Brink et al. 1995, MacRae 1999, Churchill et al. 2000 Partridge & Scott 2000, Brink & Rossouw 2000, Rossouw 2006) including skeletal remains of early humans (Grine et al. 2007). Other Late Caenozoic fossil biotas from these superficial deposits include non-marine molluscs (bivalves, gastropods), ostrich egg shells, trace fossils (e.g. calcretised termitaria and 28 John E. Almond (2013) Natura Viva cc other invertebrate burrows, coprolites), plant remains such as palynomorphs in organic-rich alluvial horizons (Scott 2000) and diatoms in pan sediments. It is notable that in the Aliwal North sheet area to the north of the Queenstown sheet Bruce et al. (1983) report abundant plant material throughout the Quaternary alluvial deposits as well as rounded, transported Earlier Stone Age implements in the Pleistocene basal gravels.

No fossils were recorded within the superficial sediments in the R61 (Section 8) study area.

4. CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS

Section 8 of the R61 between Mthatha and Port St Johns, Eastern Cape, from Majola Tea in the west (km 51) to Tombo in the east (km 66), traverses basinal mudrocks of the Ecca Group (Karoo Supergroup) of Early to Middle Permian age that are extensively intruded by dolerites of the Early Jurassic Karoo Dolerite Suite. Bedrock exposure of the Ecca sediments is generally poor and biased towards road cuttings through more resistant-weathering impure sandstone packages as well as baked sediments adjacent to dolerite intrusions. Potentially fossiliferous mudrock successions are also well represented, however.

Both of the borrow pit sites (BP7, BP9) as well as the proposed new hardrock quarry and access road are largely underlain by major Karoo dolerite intrusions (sills) and are of no palaeontological heritage significance. The dolerite in most cases is deeply weathered to yield resistant, rounded corestones embedded in friable sabunga. Adjacent sedimentary country rocks of the Ecca and Lower Beaufort Groups have been baked to quartzites and hornfels, seriously compromising their fossil heritage potential. No fossils were observed within these thermally metamorphosed country rocks.

It is concluded that the proposed rehabilitation of Section 8 of the R61 between Mthatha and Port St Johns - including the proposed new borrow pits and hardrock quarry as well as access roads, modifications to stormwater structures and other infrastructural developments - is of LOW palaeontological heritage significance. Pending the discovery of substantial new fossils during before or during development, no further specialist palaeontological studies or mitigation in this respect are considered necessary for this road project.

29 John E. Almond (2013) Natura Viva cc 5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Ms Tamarin Arthur and Ms Tanya Speyers of SRK Consulting, Port Elizabeth, are both is thanked for commissioning this specialist study and for kindly providing extensive background information to assist with the fieldwork.

6. KEY REFERENCES

ALMOND, J.E. 2011. Proposed extension of three existing borrow pits in the Port St Johns – Lusikisiki area, Eastern Cape Province. Palaeontological assessment: desktop study, 8 pp. Natura Viva cc, Cape Town.

ALMOND, J.E. 2012. Proposed upgrade of sewerage facilities at Lusikisiki near Port St Johns, O.R. Tambo District Municipality, Eastern Cape. Palaeontological assessment: desktop study, 9 pp. Natura Viva cc, Cape Town.

ALMOND, J.E., DE KLERK, W.J. & GESS, R. 2008. Palaeontological heritage of the Eastern Cape. Interim SAHRA technical report, 20 pp. Natura Viva cc., Cape Town.

BAMFORD, M.K. 2004. Diversity of woody vegetation of Gondwanan southern Africa. Gondwana Research 7, 153-164.

BENDER, P.A. & BRINK, J.S. 1992. A preliminary report on new large mammal fossil finds from the Cornelia-Uitzoek site. South African Journal of Science 88: 512-515.

BOUSMAN, C.B. et al. 1988. Palaeoenvironmental implications of Late Pleistocene and Holocene valley fills in Blydefontein Basin, Noupoort, C.P., South Africa. Palaeoecology of Africa 19: 43-67.

BRINK, J.S. 1987. The archaeozoology of Florisbad, Orange Free State. Memoirs van die Nasionale Museum 24, 151 pp.

BRINK, J.S. et al. 1995. A new find of Megalotragus priscus (Alcephalini, Bovidae) from the Central Karoo, South Africa. Palaeontologia africana 32: 17-22.

BRINK, J.S. & ROSSOUW, L. 2000. New trial excavations at the Cornelia-Uitzoek type locality. Navorsinge van die Nasionale Museum Bloemfontein 16, 141-156.

BRUCE, R.W., KRUGER, G.P. & JOHNSON, M.R. 1983. Die geologie van die gebied Aliwal- Noord. Explanation to 1: 250 000 geology Sheet 3026 Aliwal-Noord, 7 pp. Council for Geoscience, Pretoria.

CAIRNCROSS, B., BEUKES, N.J., MUNTINGH, D.J. & REHFELD, U. 1998. Late Permian deltaic successions from the Karoo Supergroup, South Africa: fresh water or marine deposits? Abstracts, 15th International Sedimentological Congress, International Association of Sedimentologists, p. 224.

CAIRNCROSS, B., BEUKES, N.J., COETZEE, L.L. & REHFELD, U. 2005. The bivalve Megadesmus from the Permian Volksrust Formation (Karoo Supergroup), northeastern Karoo Basin, South Africa: implications for late Permian basin development. South African Journal of Geology 108, 547-556.

CHURCHILL, S.E. et al. 2000. Erfkroon: a new Florisian fossil locality from fluvial contexts in the western Free State, South Africa. South African Journal of Science 96: 161-163.

30 John E. Almond (2013) Natura Viva cc COOKE, H.B.S. 1974. The fossil mammals of Cornelia, O.F.S., South Africa. In: Butzer, K.W., Clark, J.D. & Cooke, H.B.S. (Eds.) The geology, archaeology and fossil mammals of the Cornelia Beds

DU TOIT, A.L. & ROGERS, A.W. 1917. The geology of part of the Transkei. An explanation of Sheet 27 (Cape) (MacLear-Umtata), 28 pp. Geological Survey / Council for Geoscience, Pretoria.

DUNCAN, A.R. & MARSH, J.S. 2006. The Karoo Igneous Province. In: Johnson, M.R., Anhaeusser, C.R. & Thomas, R.J. (Eds.) The geology of South Africa, pp. 501-520. Geological Society of South Africa, Marshalltown.

GESS, R. 2012. Proposed Tombo – Mafini elecectrical transmission line in the Port St John’s Local Municipality – palaeontological impact assessment, 14 pp. Rob Gess Consulting, Bathurst.

JOHNSON, M.R. (Ed.) 1994. Lexicon of South African stratigraphy. Part 1: Phaerozoic units, 56 pp. South African Committee for Stratigraphy, Council for Geoscience, Pretoria.

JOHNSON, M.R. 2009. Ecca Group. SA Committee for Stratigraphy Catalogue of South African lithostratigraphic units 10, 5-7. Council for Geoscience, Pretoria.

JOHNSON, M.R., VAN VUUREN, C.J., HEGENBERGER, W.F., KEY, R. & SHOKO, U. 1996. Stratigraphy of the Karoo Supergroup in southern Africa: an overview. Journal of African Earth Sciences 23, 3-15.

JOHNSON, M.R., VAN VUUREN, C.J., VISSER, J.N.J., COLE, D.I., WICKENS, H. DE V., CHRISTIE, A.D.M., ROBERTS, D.L. & BRANDL, G. 2006. Sedimentary rocks of the Karoo Supergroup. Pp. 461-499 in Johnson. M.R., Anhaeusser, C.R. & Thomas, R.J. (eds.) The geology of South Africa. Geological Society of South Africa, Johannesburg & the Council for Geoscience, Pretoria.

KARPETA, W.P. & JOHNSON, M.R. 1979. The geology of the Umtata area. Explanation to 1: 250 000 geology Sheet 3128 Umtata, 16 pp. Council for Geoscience, Pretoria.

KLEIN, R.G. 1984. The large mammals of southern Africa: Late Pliocene to Recent. In: Klein, R.G. (Ed.) Southern African prehistory and paleoenvironments, pp 107-146. Balkema, Rotterdam.

MACRAE, C. 1999. Life etched in stone. Fossils of South Africa. 305pp. The Geological Society of South Africa, Johannesburg.

MAUD, R.R. 2008. The macro-geomorphology of the Eastern Cape. In Lewis, C.A. (Ed.) Geomorphology of the Eastern Cape, South Africa, pp. 1-20. NISC, Grahamstown.

MCCARTHY, T. & RUBIDGE, B. 2005. The story of Earth and life: a southern African perspective on a 4.6-billion-year journey. 334pp. Struik, Cape Town.

MCLACHLAN, I.R. & ANDERSON, A. 1973. A review of the evidence for marine conditions in southern Africa during Dwyka times. Palaeontologia africana 15: 37-64.

PARTRIDGE, T.C. & MAUD, R.R. 1987. Geomorphic evolution of southern Africa since the Mesozoic. South African Journal of Geology 90: 179-208.

PARTRIDGE, T.C. & MAUD, R.R. 2000. Macro-scale geomorphic evolution of Southern Africa. Pp. 3-18 in Partridge, T.C. & Maud, R.R. (eds.) The Cenozoic of Southern Africa. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

31 John E. Almond (2013) Natura Viva cc PARTRIDGE, T.C. & SCOTT, L. 2000. Lakes and pans. In: Partridge, T.C. & Maud, R.R. (Eds.) The Cenozoic of southern Africa, pp.145-161. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

ROSSOUW, L. 2006. Florisian mammal fossils from erosional gullies along the Modder River at Mitasrust Farm, Central Free State, South Africa. Navorsinge van die Nasionale Museum Bloemfontein 22, 145-162.

SAHRA 2013. Minimum standards: palaeontological component of heritage impact assessment reports, 15 pp. South African Heritage Resources Agency, Cape Town.

SEILACHER, A. 2007. Trace fossil analysis, xiii + 226pp. Springer Verlag, Berlin.

SKEAD, C.J. 1980. Historical mammal incidence in the Cape Province. Volume 1: The Western and Northern Cape, 903pp. Department of Nature and Environmental Conservation, Cape Town.

TAVENER-SMITH, R., COOPER, J.A.G. & RAYNER, R.J. 1988. Depositional environments in the Volksrust Formation (Permian) in the Mhlatuze River, Zululand. South African Journal of Geology 91, 198-206.

VISSER, D.J.L. et al. 1989. The geology of the Republics of South Africa, Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda and Ciskei and the Kingdoms of Lesotho and Swaziland. Explanation of the 1: 1 000 000 geological map, fourth edition, 491 pp. Council for Geoscience, Pretoria.

WELLS, L.H. & COOKE, H.B.S. 1942. The associated fauna and culture of Vlakkraal thermal springs, O.F.S.; III, the faunal remains. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa 29: 214- 232.

7. QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE OF THE AUTHOR

Dr John Almond has an Honours Degree in Natural Sciences (Zoology) as well as a PhD in Palaeontology from the University of Cambridge, UK. He has been awarded post-doctoral research fellowships at Cambridge University and in Germany, and has carried out palaeontological research in Europe, North America, the Middle East as well as North and South Africa. For eight years he was a scientific officer (palaeontologist) for the Geological Survey / Council for Geoscience in the RSA. His current palaeontological research focuses on fossil record of the Precambrian - Cambrian boundary and the Cape Supergroup of South Africa. He has recently written palaeontological reviews for several 1: 250 000 geological maps published by the Council for Geoscience and has contributed educational material on fossils and evolution for new school textbooks in the RSA.

Since 2002 Dr Almond has also carried out palaeontological impact assessments for developments and conservation areas in the Western, Eastern and Northern Cape under the aegis of his Cape Town-based company Natura Viva cc. He is a long-standing member of the Archaeology, Palaeontology and Meteorites Committee for Heritage Western Cape (HWC) and an advisor on palaeontological conservation and management issues for the Palaeontological Society of South Africa (PSSA), HWC and SAHRA. He is currently compiling technical reports on the provincial palaeontological heritage of Western, Northern and Eastern Cape for SAHRA and HWC. Dr Almond is an accredited member of PSSA and APHP (Association of Professional Heritage Practitioners – Western Cape).

32 John E. Almond (2013) Natura Viva cc Declaration of Independence

I, John E. Almond, declare that I am an independent consultant and have no business, financial, personal or other interest in the proposed project, application or appeal in respect of which I was appointed other than fair remuneration for work performed in connection with the activity, application or appeal. There are no circumstances that compromise the objectivity of my performing such work.

Dr John E. Almond Palaeontologist Natura Viva cc

33 John E. Almond (2013) Natura Viva cc Appendix: GPS LOCALITY DATA

All GPS readings were taken in the field using a hand-held Garmin GPSmap 60CSx instrument. The datum used is WGS 84.

21 to 22 June 2013 – R61 (Section 8) project

Location number South East 284 S31 34 28.8 E29 07 22.1 285 S31 34 36.5 E29 07 40.6 286 S31 34 13.7 E29 07 23.3 287 S31 34 14.0 E29 14 18.0 288 S31 34 14.0 E29 14 17.9 289 S31 34 13.6 E29 14 12.7 290 S31 34 14.2 E29 14 07.5 291 S31 34 14.6 E29 14 06.2 292 S31 34 17.3 E29 13 56.1 293 S31 34 30.6 E29 14 37.6 294 S31 35 32.6 E29 16 05.5 295 S31 35 28.2 E29 16 51.2 296 S31 35 34.0 E29 17 11.9 297 S31 35 46.2 E29 17 24.0 298 S31 36 22.4 E29 19 02.5 299 S31 37 25.5 E29 22 04.6 300 S31 36 57.8 E29 20 49.3 301 S31 36 52.9 E29 20 40.4 302 S31 36 49.8 E29 20 35.1 303 S31 36 46.5 E29 20 20.5 304 S31 36 46.2 E29 20 19.3 305 S31 36 37.4 E29 20 09.0 306 S31 36 17.5 E29 19 38.4 307 S31 36 17.3 E29 19 27.5 308 S31 36 17.7 E29 19 20.6 309 S31 35 42.1 E29 17 18.3 310 S31 35 42.2 E29 17 18.3 311 S31 35 53.2 E29 17 37.5 312 S31 35 32.2 E29 17 04.3

34 John E. Almond (2013) Natura Viva cc