Proposed Upgrade of National Route 1, Section 17, from Ventersburg (Km 0.0) to Kroonstad (Km 44.9), Free State

Palaeontological specialist assessment: combined desktop and field-based study

PROPOSED UPGRADE OF NATIONAL ROUTE 1, SECTION 17, FROM VENTERSBURG (KM 0.0) TO KROONSTAD (KM 44.9), FREE STATE

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

January 2014

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The South African National Roads Agency (Soc) Ltd is planning to upgrade the National Route 1 section 17 from Ventersburg (km 0.0) to Kroonstad (km 44.9), Free State. The horizontal alignment of the new carriageway will follow the existing alignment but the road reserve will be widened to accommodate a dual carriageway. Road material (principally dolerite) for the N1 upgrade project will be extracted from a series of twelve existing borrow pits and two existing quarries in the Ventersburg – Kroonstad region.

The study area along the N1 between Ventersburg and Kroonstad is underlain by Late Permian lacustrine to continental sediments of the Karoo Supergroup (Ecca and Lower Beaufort Groups) that are extensively intruded by Early Jurassic dolerites of the Karoo Dolerite Suite. These bedrocks are for the most part mantled by Quaternary sands, soils and other superficial deposits of low palaeontological sensitivity. Exposure levels of potentially fossiliferous Karoo sediments are correspondingly very low, with the exception of occasional road cuttings, quarries, borrow pits and dams.

Of the twelve borrow pit sites and two quarry sites associated with the N1 upgrade project, almost all are excavated into fresh to deeply-weathered Karoo dolerite that is of no palaeontological heritage significance. Karoo Supergroup sandstones occur in the vicinity of borrow pit 2.4B near Ventersburg. However, no fossil remains were recorded here and the sedimentary bedrocks are baked by nearby dolerite intrusions. Pending the discovery of significant new fossil remains (e.g. fossil vertebrates, petrified wood) during excavation, no further palaeontological studies or professional mitigation are therefore recommended for any of these borrow pits or quarries, with the notable exception of the Q42.5 quarry site that is discussed further below. The Environmental Control Officer (ECO) for the project should be alerted to the potential for, and scientific significance of, new fossil finds during the construction phase of the road development.

Important assemblages of fossil non-marine bivalves (clams / mussels), closely associated with fossil burrows made by the same group, as well as other low-diversity trace fossil assemblages and rare petrified wood are recorded in the vicinity of the Q42.5 quarry. The site is located just west of the N1 and approximately 3.7 km south of the outskirts of Kroonstad. Fossil bivalves preserved as moulds and shelly coquinas occur in situ as well as within sandstone float blocks at several points to the west and east of the quarry and are expected to occur widely in the subsurface (See GPS data table and map in the Appendix). The fossiliferous beds here overlie a dolerite sill and are mapped within the

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Lower Beaufort Group outcrop area. However, they are probably better referred to the Ecca Group, possibly as deltaic deposits within the uppermost Volksrust Formation of Late Permian age, but this requires confirmation.

The fossil bivalve locality near Kroonstad has been known since at least the 1970s (Kitching in Rossouw 1970) but has never been formally studied or sampled. It is of considerable scientific interest because of the unusually large and well-preserved fossil bivalves found along the quarry margins here, both in situ within thinly-interbedded sandstone / mudrock packages as well as within numerous sandstone float blocks. Furthermore, the bivalves occur in close association with traces of their burrows, which is an unusual occurrence. The identity of the bivalves has not yet been established. Larger (c. 4-5 cm) and smaller (1 cm or less) individuals may represent different growth stages of the same species or perhaps different taxa. To the author’s knowledge, fossil bivalve life assemblages of this type and quality have not been described elsewhere within the Karoo Supergroup of southern Africa.

Since this key fossil site would be seriously impacted by extension of the existing Q42.5 dolerite quarry it is strongly recommended that before construction commences a professional palaeontologist be commissioned by the developer to record and judiciously sample near-surface fossil material at the site. The palaeontologist should also make recommendations for realistic conservation or mitigation measures during the construction phase of the Q42.5 quarry development, in consultation with the developer. Any mitigation measures proposed should be incorporated into the Environmental Management Plan (EMP) for the N1 road upgrade project.

The palaeontologist concerned with recording, sampling and mitigation work would need a valid collection permit from the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA contact details: Ms. Colette Scheermeyer, South African Heritage Resources Agency, 111 Harrington Street. P.O. Box 4637, Cape Town 8000. Tel: 021 462 4502. Email: [email protected]. Fax: +27 (0)21 462 4509. Web:www.sahra.org.za).

All work would have to 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).

1. INTRODUCTION AND BRIEF

The South African National Roads Agency (Soc) Ltd is planning to upgrade the National Route 1 section 17 from Ventersburg (km 0.0) to Kroonstad (km 44.9), Free State. According to the Background Information Document (January 2013) produced by Chameleon Environmental Consultants, Pretoria, the scope of works includes the following:

• The roadway will be upgraded from a bi-directional single carriageway to a divided dual carriageway by constructing the new carriageway adjacent to the existing carriageway.

• The horizontal alignment of the new carriageway will follow the existing alignment.

• All streams and river crossings will require new structures or, if possible, the existing structures are to be lengthened provided they meet the hydraulic requirements.

• The existing roadway will require full rehabilitation and some re-grades in places to improve the vertical alignment.

• In order to eliminate the existing at-grade accesses of the district roads, possible grade separated intersections may be required.

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• The new carriageway will require permanent land acquisition as the existing road reserve is not wide enough to cater for the dual carriageway roadway.

Road material (principally dolerite) for the N1 upgrade project will be extracted from a series of twelve existing borrow pits and two existing quarries in the Ventersburg – Kroonstad region (See map Figs. 1 to 3, satellite image Fig. 4 and Table 1).

A Basic Assessment is being undertaken for the proposed road development and environmental authorisation is being sought (Project reference number 14/12/16/3/3/1/780).

1.1. Scope of this palaeontological heritage study

This combined desktop and field-based palaeontological specialist report provides an assessment of the observed or inferred palaeontological heritage within the twelve borrow pit and two quarries involved in the road development (Figs. 1 to 3, Table 1), with recommendations for further specialist palaeontological studies and / or mitigation where considered necessary. It contributes to the Basic Assessment for the proposed road development, provides background data for the registration of the pits with the Department of Mineral Resources, and will also inform the Environmental Management Plan for the project.

The study has been commissioned by Chameleon Environmental, Pretoria, the company which has been appointed by VelaVKE Consulting Engineers (Pty) Ltd to facilitate the Basic Assessment and public participation process (Contact details: Dr J. Bothma. PO Box 11788, Silver Lakes 0054. 15 Els Street, Silver Lakes, Pretoria. E-mail: [email protected]. Tel: 082 571 6920. Fax: 086 6855 080).

BP8 BP8.2

BP2.4-A BP2.4-B BP1.1-A

BP1.1B

5 km

Fig. 1. Extract from 1: 250 000 topographical map 2826 Winburg (Courtesy of the Chief Directorate: National Geo-spatial Information, Mowbray) showing the location of the existing borrow pits BP1-A, BP1-B, BP2.4-A, BP2.4-B, BP8 and BP8.2 as well as quarry 3 near Ventersburg, Free State.

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BP26

BP24.4

BP20.5

5 km

Fig. 2. Extract from 1: 250 000 topographical map 2726 Kroonstad (Courtesy of the Chief Directorate: National Geo-spatial Information, Mowbray) showing the location of the existing borrow pits BP20.5, BP24.4 and BP26 along the N1 between Ventersburg and Kroonstad.

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Kroonstad

BP45

Q42.5 BP42.5

BP36

5 km

Fig. 3. Extract from 1: 250 000 topographical map 2726 Kroonstad (Courtesy of the Chief Directorate: National Geo-spatial Information, Mowbray) showing the location of the existing borrow pits BP36, BP42.5 and BP45 as well as quarry Q42.5 along or close to the N1 near Kroonstad.

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Fig. 4. Google earth© satellite image showing the location of the existing borrow pits and quarries associated with the N1 road upgrade project between Winburg and Kroonstad (Image kindly supplied by Chameleon Environmental Consultants, Pretoria).

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Table 1: List of existing borrow pits and quarries associated with the upgrade of the N1 between Ventersburg and Kroonstad

PIT / QUARRY GPS CO-ORDINATES COMMENTS

BP1.1-A 28° 4'18.25"S 27° 7'15.88"E Weathered dolerite

BP1.1-B 28° 5'33.56"S 27°10'34.36"E Weathered, highly-jointed dolerite

BP2.4-A 28° 4'14.41"S 27° 9'16.42"E Weathered dolerite

Baked buff cross-bedded sandstone, thin- BP2.4-B 28° 4'52.33"S 27° 9'37.21"E bedded siltstones near dolerite intrusion

Q3 28° 4'0.77"S 27° 9'28.98"E Fresh dolerite

BP8 28° 1'12.64"S 27°10'0.20"E Well-jointed dolerite

BP8.2 28° 1'6.76"S 27°10'23.31"E Weathered dolerite

BP20.5 27°54'59.54"S 27°12'49.22"E Weathered dolerite

BP24.4 27°52'52.34"S 27°12'14.49"E Weathered dolerite

BP26 27°51'50.24"S 27°12'7.49" Weathered dolerite, baked Karoo quartzite

BP36 27°46'45.24"S 27°13'14.07"E Weathered dolerite

BP42.5 27°43'20.45" 27°13'56.84"E Weathered dolerite

Fresh dolerite capped by Karoo (probably Ecca Group) sandstones and heterolithic Q42.5 27°43'13.08"S 27°14'8.40"E beds with abundant fossil bivalves and low diversity trace fossil assemblages.

BP45 27°41'35.09"S 27°14'56.05"E Weathered dolerite

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1.2. Legislative context for palaeontological assessment studies

Chameleon Environmental, Pretoria, has been appointed by VelaVKE Consulting Engineers (Pty) Ltd on behalf of the Free State Department of Roads and Public Works as the independent consultants to undertake the Basic Assessment process for the N1 road upgrade between Ventersburg and Kroonstad that is required in terms of the applicable legislation.

The present combined desktop and field-based palaeontological heritage report falls under Sections 35 and 38 (Heritage Resources Management) of the South African Heritage Resources Act (Act No. 25 of 1999), and it will also inform the Environmental Management Plan for this project.

The proposed borrow pit developments are located in an area that is underlain by potentially fossil- rich sedimentary rocks of Late Palaeozoic age as well as Mesozoic dolerites (Sections 2 and 3). The exploitation of the borrow pits and quarries for road material will entail substantial excavations into the superficial sediment cover as well as the underlying bedrocks. These developments may adversely affect known or potential fossil heritage at or beneath the surface of the ground within the study area by destroying, disturbing or sealing-in fossils that are then no longer available for scientific research or other public good. The rehabilitation phase of the borrow pits and quarries are unlikely to involve further adverse impacts on palaeontological heritage, however.

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.

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(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 (PIAs) have recently been published by SAHRA (2013).

1.3. Approach to the palaeontological heritage study

The approach to this palaeontological heritage study is briefly as follows. Fossil bearing rock units occurring within the broader study area are determined from geological maps and satellite images. Known fossil heritage in each rock unit is inventoried from scientific literature, previous assessments of the broader study region, and the author’s field experience and palaeontological database. Based on this data as well as field examination of representative exposures of all major sedimentary rock units present, the impact significance of the proposed development is assessed with recommendations for any further studies or mitigation.

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 following field assessment during the compilation of the final report). This data is then used to assess the palaeontological sensitivity of each rock unit to development. 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 and scale of the development itself, most significantly the extent of fresh bedrock excavation envisaged. When rock units of moderate to high palaeontological sensitivity are present within the development footprint, a Phase 1 field assessment study by a professional palaeontologist is usually warranted to identify any palaeontological hotspots and make specific recommendations for any mitigation required before or during the construction phase of the development.

On the basis of the desktop and Phase 1 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. Phase 2 mitigation by a professional palaeontologist – normally involving the recording and sampling of fossil material and associated geological information (e.g.

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sedimentological data) may be required (a) in the pre-construction phase where important fossils are already exposed at or near the land surface and / or (b) during the construction phase when fresh fossiliferous bedrock has been exposed by excavations. To carry out sampling and mitigation, the palaeontologist involved will need to apply for a palaeontological collection permit from the relevant heritage management authority, The South African Heritage Resources Agency (Contact details: SAHRA, 111 Harrington Street, Cape Town. PO Box 4637, Cape Town 8000,South Africa. Phone : +27 (0)21 462 4502. Fax: +27 (0)21 462 4509. Web: www.sahra.org.za). 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.

1.4. 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 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

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in the study area, the reliability of a palaeontological impact assessment may be significantly enhanced through field assessment by a professional palaeontologist. In the present case, site visits to the various loop and borrow pit study areas in some cases considerably modified our understanding of the rock units (and hence potential fossil heritage) represented there.

In the case of the borrow pits and quarries in field study area between Ventersburg and Kroonstad bedrock exposure within the existing excavations is generally good to very good but mainly consists of unfossiliferous igneous rocks. Due to generally poor visibility of potentially fossiliferous sedimentary bedrocks in the region as a whole there is very little palaeontological field data available.

1.5. Information sources

The information used in this desktop study was based on the following:

1. A Basic Information Document Chameleon Environmental Consultants, Pretoria;

2. A review of the relevant scientific literature, including published geological maps and accompanying sheet explanations;

3. The author’s previous field experience with the formations concerned and their palaeontological heritage;

4. A short field assessment of each of the quarry and borrow pit study areas during 14 - 15 December 2013.

2. GEOLOGICAL OUTLINE OF THE STUDY AREA

The terrain in the study area along the N1 between Venterburg and Kroonstad is topographically subdued, from flat to gently hilly (c. 1350-1500 m amsl) with occasional low mesas, shallow pans and numerous small, impersistent streams. Most of the original vegetation has been transformed for agriculture (Satellite image, Fig. 4). The intermittent Leeuspruit / Blomspruit drainage system flows north-westwards across the line of the N1 just south of Kroonstad to join the Valsrivier, a tributary of the Vaal River.

The geology of study area between Ventersburg and Kroonstad is outlined on the 1: 250 000 geology sheets 2826 Winburg (Nolte 1995) and 2726 Kroonstad (Schutte 1993) (Figs. 5 and 6). This region lies towards the northern edge of the Main Karoo Basin of South Africa and is underlain by shallow marine / lacustrine to continental sediments of the Karoo Supergroup of Late Permian age, with a broadly younging trend towards the south (Johnson et al. 2006). According to the 1: 250 000 geological maps, these Karoo sediments belong to the predominantly fluvial Lower Beaufort Group (Adelaide Subgroup, Pa) that is of latest Permian age in this part of the basin, as determined from vertebrate fossil data (i.e. Dicynodon Assemblage Zone; Kitching 1995, Rubidge 2005, Van der Walt et al. 2010) (See Section 3). Brief accounts of Lower Beaufort Group rocks in the Winburg and Kroonstad sheet areas are given by Nolte (1995) and Schutte (1993) respectively but good exposures here are comparatively rare and none were encountered during the present field study. Therefore these rocks will not be treated further here.

Middle to Late Permian lacustrine to deltaic sediments of the Ecca Group crop out beneath the Lower Beaufort continental rocks to the west of Kroonstad where they are mapped as basinal mudrocks of the Volksrust Formation (Pvo). Older Middle Permian deltaic sediments of the underlying Vryheid Formation (Pv, “Middle Ecca”) are mapped along the Valsrivier and its tributaries some 20 to 30 km or more west of Kroonstad. As discussed below in Section 3, the important fossiliferous succession at

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the Q42.5 quarry site c. 3.7 km south of Kroonstad is considered here to belong to the Ecca Group, rather than the Lower Beaufort Group as mapped (cf. Fig. 6). It shares more features in common with the fluvio-deltaic, sandstone-dominated uppermost portion of the Volksrust Formation (as described, for example, by Cairncross et al. 2005 in KwaZulu-Natal), representing a transitional, marginal “marine” succession between the Ecca and Lower Beaufort Groups. Volksrust beds are mapped less than five kilometres NNW of the quarry site (Fig. 6). This stratigraphic uncertainty can only be resolved through further fieldwork.

The Karoo Supergroup sediments in the northern portion of the Main Karoo Basin between Ventersburg and Kroonstad are extensively intruded by sills and dykes referred to the Karoo Dolerite Suite (Jd) of Early Jurassic age (c. 182 Ma; Duncan & Marsh 2006). Dolerite intrusion has led to baking of sandstones and mudrocks in the country rock successions to quartzites and hornfels respectively.

Various types of superficial deposits of Late Caenozoic (Miocene / Pliocene to Recent) age occur widely throughout the Great Karoo study region. They include pedocretes (e.g. calcretes), slope deposits (scree etc), river alluvium, diverse soils and surface gravels as well as spring and pan sediments (cf Partridge et al. 2006). As a result, surface exposure of fresh Karoo Supergroup rocks within the region is generally very poor, apart from stream beds, dongas and steeper hill slopes as well as artificial exposures in road and railway cuttings, farm dams and borrow pits. The hill slopes are typically mantled with a thin layer of colluvium or slope deposits (e.g. sandstone and dolerite scree). Thicker accumulations of sandy, gravelly and bouldery alluvium of Late Caenozoic age (< 5 Ma), including pediment gravels, are found in streams and river valleys. These colluvial and alluvial deposits may be extensively calcretised (i.e. cemented with soil limestone or calcrete), especially in the neighbourhood of dolerite intrusions. Over the southern half of the N1 study route the Karoo Supergroup and dolerite bedrocks are largely mantled by aeolian sands (Qc) that according to Schutte (1993) overlie an extensive Early Tertiary erosion surface. These Pleistocene superficial deposits and the various soils in the region have been described in detail by Harmse (1963, 1967).

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BP8 BP8.2

BP2.4-A

BP1.1-A BP2.4-B

BP1.1B

5 km

Fig. 5. Extract from 1: 250 000 geological map 2826 Winburg (Council for Geoscience, Pretoria) showing the location of the existing borrow pits BP1-A, BP1B, BP2.4-A, BP2.4-B, BP8 and BP8.2 as well as quarry Q3 near Ventersburg.

Major rock units represented in Figs. 5 & 6 include:

Qs (yellow) = aeolian and reworked sands, sandy soils (Quaternary)

Jd (purple) = dolerite intrusions of the Karoo Dolerite Suite (Early Jurassic)

Pa (grey-green / pale blue) = continental sediments of the Lower Beaufort Group (Late Permian)

Pvo (brown) = lacustrine / deltaic sediments of the Volksrust Formation (Ecca Group)

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BP45

BP42.5 Q42.5

BP36

BP26

BP24.4

BP20.5

N 5 km

Fig. 6. Extract from 1: 250 000 geological map 2726 Kroonstad (Council for Geoscience, Pretoria) showing the location of the existing borrow pits BP20.5, BP24.4, BP26, BP36, BP42.5 and BP45 as well as quarry Q42.5 close to the N1 between Ventersburg and Kroonstad. See previous figure for key to rock units.

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3. SUMMARY OF GEOLOGICAL AND PALAEONTOLOGICAL FIELD OBSERVATIONS

A brief, illustrated account of the principal geological features observed during recent fieldwork at each of the borrow pit and quarry study sites associated with the N1 road upgrade project between Ventersburg and Kroonstad (Figs. 1 to 3 and Table 1) is given in this section of the report, together with data on any fossil remains recorded. The pit and quarry sites are dealt with approximately in order from south to north.

3.1. Borrow Pit BP 1-1A

The site is located on the S side of the R70 on the north-western outskirts of Ventersburg and consists of an extensive set of shallow existing pits, partially infilled with domestic and rock waste. The pits are mainly excavated into weathered dolerite (sabunga), with fresh dolerite visible locally in the pit floor, overlain by grey-brown soil with doleritic gravels. The vertical section in the pit wall shown in Fig 7 shows weathered dolerite at the level of the hammer capped by a thin, reddish-brown lateritic soil beneath which penetrate vertical root moulds, overlain in turn by gravelly reworked soil and rubble.

No sedimentary bedrocks of the Karoo Supergroup or fossil remains, apart from subfossil plant root moulds, were observed.

Fig. 7. Weathered dolerite overlain by a thin, reddish-brown lateritic soil beneath which are seen vertical subfossil plant root moulds, Borrow Pit BP1-1A (Hammer = c. 30 cm).

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3.2. Borrow Pit BP1 – 1B

The site is a shallow existing pit within rolling hilly terrain on the N side of the R70, c. 3 km east of Ventersburg. Fresh dolerite joint blocks and corestones here are overlain by grey-brown, gritty soils. The dolerite bedrock is prominently cut by numerous parallel NE-SW trending joints (Fig. 8).

No sedimentary bedrocks of the Karoo Supergroup or fossil remains were seen.

Fig. 8. Extensively jointed dolerite bedrock at borrow pit site BP1-1B (Hammer = c. 30 cm).

3.3. Borrow Pit BP2.4-A

The existing shallow excavation, located c. 2 km NE of Ventersburg and 170 m east of the N1, is already largely mantled or infilled by rock waste from previous road works. Weathered, well-jointed dolerite bedrock is visible along the eastern side of the pit (Fig. 9).

No sedimentary bedrocks of the Karoo Supergroup or fossil remains were seen.

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Fig. 9. Well-jointed, weathered dolerite at the edge of Borrow Pit BP2.4-A (Hammer = c. 30 cm).

3.4. Borrow Pit BP 2.4-B

This extensive shallow pit, situated c. 1.5 km NE of Ventersburg and about 600 m N of the R70, shows very little bedrock exposure. Angular float blocks of well-consolidated buff sandstone are seen on the pit floor. Approximately 150 m to the NW is an erosion gulley exposure of well-jointed dolerite (28 04 49.1 S, 27 09 33.4 E), in contact with thin-bedded Karoo Supergroup sandstones (probably Adelaide Subgroup, cf geological map Fig. 5).

There are several small bedrock exposures in this area comprising pale grey to buff, cross-bedded feldspathic sandstone overlain by thick dark brown, gravelly soils (Fig. 10) Pale buff, crumbly diagenetic nodules within the sandstone may be secondarily silicified palaeocalcrete nodules modified as a result of dolerite intrusion. Baked grey-green, hackly-weathering mudrocks are seen in this area at 28º 04’ 46.3” S, 27º 09’ 50.7” E. These sediments probably belong to the Adelaide Subgroup.

No fossil remains were recorded here.

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Fig. 10. Baked feldspathic, cross-bedded sandstones of the Adelaide Subgroup with a thick soil cover, pit exposure close to Borrow Pit BP2.4-B (Hammer = c. 30 cm).

Fig. 11. View north-eastwards across the Q3 quarry site excavated into a major dolerite sill.

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3.5. Quarry Q3

This large existing dolerite quarry, situated c. 2.2 km NE of Ventersburg and about 350 m east of the N1, is excavated into a major well-jointed sill of fresh dolerite (Fig. 11).

No Karoo sedimentary bedrocks or fossil remains were recorded here.

3.6. Borrow Pit BP8

This site, located c. 400 m west of the N1 and 7.9 km NE of Ventersburg, is a shallow existing excavation into dolerite bedrocks with associated coarse, blocky, rusty-hued dolerite rubble, dolerite corestones and a mantle of reddish-brown soils.

A nearby road cutting into the same intrusion as BP8 and BP8.2 shows well-jointed, brown- weathering dolerite (28 01 08.3 S, 27 10 16.3 E) (Fig. 12).

No Karoo sedimentary bedrocks or fossil remains were seen here.

Fig. 12. Road cutting through blocky-jointed dolerite along the N1 close to and between borrow pit sites BP8 and BP8.2 (Hammer = c. 30 cm).

3.7. Borrow Pit BP8.2

This is an existing pit excavated into greyish-green weathered dolerite, located c. 160 m east of the N1 and 8.3 km NE of Ventersburg. The dolerite bedrocks are mantled by reddish-brown soils.

No Karoo sedimentary bedrocks or fossil remains were seen here.

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3.8. Borrow Pit BP20.5

This site, located 1 km east of the N1 and c. 20.4 km NNE of Ventersburg, is a large, shallow existing excavation into weathered greenish-brown, crumbly dolerite capped by orange-brown lateritic soils (Fig. 13) or brown soils, the latter locally containing calcrete nodules of probable Quaternary age.

No Karoo sedimentary bedrocks or fossil remains were seen here.

Fig. 13. Deeply-weathered dolerite bedrock and overlying lateritic soils exposed in the wall of Borrow Pit BP20.5 (Hammer = c. 30 cm).

3.9. Borrow Pit BP24.4

This site shows a series of shallow existing pits, located 200-300 m west of the N1 and 25.5 km south of Kroonstad (Fig. 14). The bedrock here comprises weathered dolerite (sabunga) covered with orange-brown soils, with scattered small subrounded dolerite corestones.

No Karoo sedimentary bedrocks or fossil remains were seen here.

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Fig. 14. Shallow pit exposing weathered dolerite sabunga at Borrow Pit BP24.4 site (Hammer = c. 30 cm).

3.10. Borrow Pit BP26

This site, located c. 24 km south of Kroonstad and 700 m west of the N1, comprises a shallow existing excavation into weathered dolerite mantled by orange-brown lateritic soils. Several large rounded dolerite corestones are seen in the pit area (Fig. 15). Blocks of pale buff, fine-grained, baked quartzites have been excavated in a nearby test pit (27 51 49.3 S, 27 12 15.1 S).

No fossil remains were recorded at this site.

3.11. Borrow Pit BP36

The existing pit here, c. 100 m west of the N1 and 14 km south of Kroonstad, is currently being re- excavated into weathered, intensely jointed, grey-green dolerite capped by reddish brown gravelly soils (Fig. 16).

No Karoo sedimentary bedrocks or fossil remains were seen here.

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Fig. 15. Large subrounded dolerite corestones exposed at surface in the Borrow Pit BP 26 study area (Hammer = c. 30 cm).

Fig. 16. Highly-jointed dolerite bedrock and gravelly lateritic soils exposed in the fresh cut face along the eastern side of Borrow Pit BP26 (Hammer = c. 30 cm).

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3.12. Borrow Pit BP42.5

This proposed pit, located at about 1370 m amsl on the crest of a low Karoo koppie some 3.7 km south of southern outskirts of Kroonstad, and c. 400 m west of the N1, is to be excavated into a major dolerite intrusion. The koppie is mantled with a thick colluvial mantle of blocky-weathering dolerite with corestones and dolerite gravels embedded in reddish-brown lateritic soil (Fig. 17).

No Karoo sedimentary bedrocks or fossil remains were seen here.

Fig. 17. View northwards towards the low Karoo koppie on top of which the Borrow Pit B42.5 is to be excavated, showing coarse colluvium of dolerite corestones and rubble.

3.13. Quarry Q42.5

The recognition of possible fossil remains at this quarry site by the ecologist involved with the present N1 upgrade project triggered the original commissioning of a palaeontological assessment for the development (Dr Jenine Bothma, Chameleon Environmental Consultants, Pretoria, October 2013). This fossil site has in fact already been known to palaeontologists for some time (e.g. Comment by J.W. Kitching in Rossouw 1970, p. 616; Prof. B. Rubidge, pers. comm., 2013) but has never been formally studied, despite the considerable scientific interest of the well-preserved fossil molluscs found here. A short account of the fossils and geology of the Q42.5 quarry site is given in this section of the report, while recommendations for further studies before construction are outlined in Section 4. Fossil locality information is provided in the Appendix to this report and on Fig. 35.

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3.13.1. Geological setting of the quarry site

The Q42.5 site centers round a small but deep, steep-sided quarry that is excavated into a small, SW- NE elongated dolerite intrusion, situated some 100 m west of the N1 and about 3.7 km south of the outskirts of Kroonstad (See satellite image in Fig. 35). The main dark grey dolerite body exposed in the quarry walls shows well-developed vertical columnar jointing. Smaller subvertical dolerite dykes or apophyses are also seen penetrating the country rocks in the vicinity. These country rocks comprise a range of Karoo Supergroup clastic sediments including dark grey-green, NE-dipping mudrocks towards the base and a thick, subhorizontal to gently dipping, sandstone-dominated succession higher up, overlying the main dolerite sill and building the plateau of the low koppie here. These contrasting clastic successions are best seen in the eastern and western cut faces of the quarry respectively.

The dark grey-green mudrocks are tabular, finely-laminated to medium-bedded, and may be structured within several meter-thick upward-coarsening packages with a paler, fine sandstone top (Fig. 18). They show no pedogenic calcretes, mudcracks, maroon mudrocks, tetrapod fossils or other evidence supporting subaerial deposition. Thin (few dm) upward-coarsening cycles from dark grey claystone to siltstone and fine-grained brown sandstone are also exposed in a small borrow pit some 200 m north of the main quarry (Fig 23). A subaqueous, prodeltaic setting may be involved here.

Displaced blocks of buff, medium to coarse sandstone in the eastern part of the quarry show trough cross-bedding, multiple reactivation surfaces, climbing and ripple drift cross-lamination and thin mud intraclast breccio-conglomerates. Low diversity assemblages of simple vertical and horizontal invertebrate burrows up to 5 mm across are exposed on bedding planes here (Fig. 31). A proximal mouth bar setting is inferred for these beds.

Thick (several m) buff, channel-like sandstone bodies build the greater part of the sandstone succession overlying the dolerite sill, as seen in the western quarry face (Fig. 19). Two cross-cutting channel sands may be present, each several meters thick (N.B. The sandstone geometry may have been modified during later intrusion). The sandstones are massive or contain large scale, gently dipping cross-sets. These beds are provisionally interpreted as distributary channel sandstones of a prograding deltaic system.

Thin (c. 2m or so), upward-coarsening heterolithic packages of interbedded, thin-bedded sandstone / wacke, dark (possibly carbonaceous) siltstone and micaceous mudflake breccia underlie and overlie the thicker sandstone “channel” bodies. They are well-exposed along the western rim of the quarry (Figs. 19 to 21). These beds host the abundant fossil bivalve and associated trace fossil fauna briefly described below. These highly bioturbated beds are provisionally interpreted as distal mouth bar deposits. Occasional upward-convex bed tops hint at possible storm-generated (hummocky) sands, but this requires confirmation.

A succession of medium- to thick-bedded, pale brown to buff sandstones overlying the heterolithic packages is intermittently exposed on the plateau of the koppie, to the west, east and north of the quarry, including within a separate small borrow pit c. 200 m north of the main quarry (Figs. 22 & 24). The beds are tabular to lenticular, variously massive or featuring well-developed tabular or trough cross-sets. Low-angle reactivation surfaces are associated with mudstone intraclasts. Palaeocurrent azimuths are variable, but predominantly towards the SW to SE. The sands are immature wackes - poorly sorted, medium- to coarse-grained and gritty, and often highly feldspathic. Bioturbation and fossil molluscs were not observed in these upper sandstone beds that are interpreted as distributary channel, or possibly fluvial channel, deposits on a delta platform. As a result of nearby dolerite intrusion the sandstones have locally developed a quartizitic rind, often cracked, secondarily ferruginised and with possible karst-weathering solution features. Occasional large (1-2 m diameter) ferruginous carbonate concretions occur to the east of the quarry.

John E. Almond (2014) Natura Viva cc 25

The Karoo Supergroup sediments at the Q42.5 quarry site are mapped as Adelaide Subgroup (Pa in Fig. 6). According to Schutte (1993) and Stavrakis (1986) the Beaufort Group sediments in the Kroonstad sheet area consist of cross-bedded arkosic sandstones, cross-laminated to parallel laminated siltstones, greenish-grey to reddish brown mudrocks and occasional thin coal seams. It should also be noted that parts of the Normandien Formation, which represents the Lower Beaufort Group in the north-eastern portion of the Main Karoo Basin including the northern Free State area, lack fluvial characters and were probably deposited in lacustrine or deltaic settings (Groenewald 1984, 1989, Johnson et al. 2006, p. 479).

Preliminary observations at the Q42.4 quarry site suggest that the sediments here may rather belong to the uppermost part of the Ecca Subgroup, close to the Ecca / Beaufort boundary, i.e. the transition from subaqueous to continental sedimentation along the margins of the contracting Ecca Sea. This is supported by the prevalence of poorly-sorted, feldspathic sandstones (wackes) with variable palaeocurrent azimuths and occasional large ferruginous carbonate concretions, the thick dark, laminated mudrock packages (possibly carbonaceous, occasionally micaceous), the upward- coarsening and –thickening heterolithic sandstone / mudrock cycles, the numerous highly-bioturbated horizons, the bivalve-rich beds and occasional shelly coquinas as well as the absence of evidence for subaerial exposure such as mud cracks, reddish mudrocks, calcrete nodules or therapsid fossils. The fossiliferous beds are provisionally assigned here to the upper part of the Volksrust Formation (cf. Taverner-Smith et al. 1988, Cairncross et al. 2005, Johnson et al. 2006). The Volksrust Formation in the north-eastern and eastern parts of the Main Karoo Basin is probably equivalent to the lower part of the Lower Beaufort Group (Adelaide Subgroup) succession further west and is inferred to be Middle to Late Permian (Capitanian – Wuchiapingian) in age (Bordy & Prevec 2008). This unit is extensively mapped to the west of Kroonstad, especially along the margins of the Valsrivier drainage system, including c. 5 km NNW of the quarry site (Fig. 6). Kitching (in Rossouw 1970, p. 616) also preferred an Ecca assignment for the bivalve-bearing sandstones near Kroonstad, and this is supported by the large size of the bivalve fossils here (see below).

Fig. 18. NE-dipping tabular-bedded dark Karoo Supergroup mudrocks juxtaposed against a dolerite intrusion along the eastern face of the Q42.5 quarry south of Kroonstad.

John E. Almond (2014) Natura Viva cc 26

Fig. 19. Columnar-jointed dolerite sill capped by thick-bedded, channel-like Karoo sandstones, in turn overlain by thin heterolithic sandstone / mudrock packages on the western rim of the Q42.5 quarry.

Fig. 20. Close-up of upward-thickening and –coarsening heterolithic package overlying the thick channel sandstones seen in the previous figure.

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Fig. 21. View northwards along the dolerite / Karoo Supergroup contact on the western rim of the Q42.5 quarry showing fossiliferous heterolithic beds overlying the dolerite (Hammer on LHS indicates in situ bivalve-bearing bed showing in Fig. 25).

Fig. 22. Tabular cross-bedded and massive sandstones that stratigraphically overlie the heterolithic packages seen in the previous figures (Hammer = c. 30 cm).

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Fig. 23. Thin upward-coarsening claystone to fine sandstone cycles (with erosional incision) exposed in small pit c. 200 m north of the main Q42.5 quarry (Hammer = c. 30 cm).

Fig. 24. Thick package of tabular cross-bedded sandstones with low angle reactivation surfaces, exposed in small pit c. 200 m north of the main Q42.5 quarry (Hammer = c. 30 cm).

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3.13.2. Fossil assemblages at Q42.5 quarry site

Important fossil assemblages of well-preserved non-marine bivalves and associated trace fossils are recorded in situ from the heterolithic, interbedded sandstone (wacke) / mudrock package overlying the dolerite sill on the eastern rim of the quarry (Locs. 436-438) (Figs. 21 & 25, 35). The 10 to 20 cm-thick sandstones concerned are immature brownish to buff wackes composed of poorly-sorted, angular quartz, with subordinate feldspar and dark mineral grains. Similar fossil assemblages, including well- preserved body fossil and trace fossil specimens, are represented in sandstone float blocks to the west and east of the quarry (Locs. 423, 427, 430, 431, 432 - see areas indicated with red triangles in satellite image Fig. 35). Moderately large (c. 5 cm long), fully articulated adult bivalves in life position (i.e. with the long axis of valves at a high angle to the bedding) are preserved as internal moulds (Steinkerns) and external moulds, either close to the bed top of buried several cm beneath its upper surface (Figs. 27 to 29). In some blocks larger bivalve individuals are seen within the bed and much smaller individuals (1-2 cm-scale) – representing juveniles or perhaps another taxon - towards the top. The tops of fossil bivalve-rich beds are often highly bioturbated. Numerous lenticular burrows infilled with coarse sand penetrate through a veneer of dark siltstone and probably represent bivalve dwelling or escape burrows (cf Lockeia; Maples & West 1989). Such close associations of body fossils and trace fossils within a biocoenosis (life assemblage) are comparatively rare phenomena in the palaeontological record and are worthy of further study.

In some dm-scale tabular sandstones (possibly of tempestite or inundate origin) thin horizons or lenses of reworked, disarticulated, often fragmentary bivalves are preserved towards the base or within the bed, often in association with rip-up clasts of carbonaceous mudrock. The reworked bivalve specimens are variously preserved as moulds (empty or infilled with secondary minerals) (Fig. 26) or with the original greyish, partially etched shell material within lenticles of poorly-sorted, gritty, calcareous sandstone (c. 20-25 cm thick) (Fig. 30).

The only other fossils recorded at the Q42.5 quarry site are occasional ex situ blocks of baked silicified wood (Fig. 32) (cf Bamford 2004).

It is notable that a specimen of the large anomalodesmatan bivalve Megadesmus was recently recorded in Kwazulu-Natal from tempestite-dominated, heterolithic prodeltaic sediments of Volksrust Formation, close to the contact with the fluvial Normandien Formation (Cairncross et al. 2005). The fluvially-dominated deltaic facies described within the uppermost Volkrust succession there (e.g. prodeltaic mudrocks with some tempestite horizons, heterolithic mouth bar successions, cross- bedded distributary channel sands) show several similarities with those seen at the Q42.4 quarry south of Kroonstad. The fossil record of the Volksrust Formation has been briefly summarized by Almond (2013). The main groups reported so far include acritarchs (organic-walled microfossils), large megadesmid bivalves, rare temnospondyl amphibian remains, vertebrate microfossils (e.g. fish teeth, spines, scales) within diagenetic nodules, wind-blown insect remains, petrified driftwoods (“Dadoxylon”) and low-diversity trace fossils assemblages of the Cruziana, Scoyenia and – especially – the Mermia ichnofacies.

John E. Almond (2014) Natura Viva cc 30

Fig. 25. Detail of thin- to medium-bedded heterolithic succession overlying dolerite shown in Figure 21 above. The prominent-weathering sandstone bed adjacent to the hammer contains fossil bivalve moulds (Hammer = c. 30 cm).

Fig. 26. Large slab of fossiliferous wacke with a bioturbated top, showing horizons of reworked shelly debris within and towards the top of the bed (Hammer = c. 30 cm). The underlying bed is rich in mudrock intraclasts.

John E. Almond (2014) Natura Viva cc 31

Fig. 27. Float block of Karoo wacke showing moulds of large bivalve molluscs towards the middle of the bed and much smaller individuals concentrated towards the top. The bed is c. 15 cm thick.

Fig. 28. Float block of Karoo wacke showing intensely biotubated top with moulds of in situ articulated bivalves directly beneath (Scale in cm).

John E. Almond (2014) Natura Viva cc 32

Fig. 29. Detail of upper portion of the fossiliferous float block shown in the previous figure. Note small fossil shells (possibly juveniles) between the moulds of larger bivalves which retain their subvertical life orientation (living assemblage or biocoenosis).

Fig. 30. Lenticle of gritty calcareous sandstone containing abundant reworked shells of fossil bivalves retaining their original shelly material (grey, etched). The largest shell fragment seen here is c. 3 cm across.

John E. Almond (2014) Natura Viva cc 33

Fig. 31. Low diversity assemblage of cylindrical horizontal to vertical burrows exposed on a sandstone / mudrock interface, float block on eastern side of quarry (Scale in cm).

Fig. 32. Baked fragment of silicified fossil wood collected from float (c. 5 cm long).

John E. Almond (2014) Natura Viva cc 34

Non-marine bivalve faunas within Karoo Supergroup sediments of the Main Karoo Basin (Ecca and Beaufort Groups) and elsewhere in Africa have been described since the nineteenth century (e.g. Sharpe 1856, Jones 1890, Amalitsky 1895, Cox 1932, Bond 1848, Rilett 1952, Cooper & Kensley 1984). Apart from the brief, unillustrated review of Beaufort Group material by Rossouw (1970), the short account of the Waterford Formation bivalves by Cooper and Kensley (1984) and brief references in Rubidge (1995) they have been largely neglected in modern times, although they may be of some value in inter-continental biostratigraphy of Permo-Carboniferous rocks (cf Lucas & Rinehart 2005, Lucas et al. 2006) as well as palaeoenvironmental analyses (cf Yates et al. 2002, Cairncross et al. 2005). Recent studies on non-marine bivalves of relevance to the Kroonstad quarry assemblage include those on Middle Permian Palaeanodonta from the Falkland Islands by Simões et al. (2012) and a paper on bivalve-generated trace fossils by Zonneveld & Gingras (2013).

The taxonomic assignment of the Kroonstad bivalve fauna has not yet been established and will require the careful preparation and study of latex casts from internal and external moulds. It is possible that more than one taxon is involved; alternatively, the smaller individuals may be juveniles. The Kwazulu-Natal megadesmid of Cairncross et al. (2005) is much larger (9 cm long) and more inflated that the Kroonstad bivalves (c. 2-5 cm long) which are clearly not closely related. The Kroonstad bivalves are significantly larger and more complex in shell morphology than the small, thin- shelled carbonicolids that are widely reported from the Lower Beaufort Group and equivalent beds elsewhere (e.g. Sharpe 1856, Jones 1890, Amalitsky 1895, Cox 1932, 1936 & 1969, Bond 1948 & 1954, Rossouw 1970, Silantiev & Urazaeva 2013). However, larger freshwater “unionids” (swan mussels) are reported from Ecca Group rocks, such as the c. 6.25 cm long unionoids from coal- bearing Middle Ecca beds (presumably Vryheid Formation) near Dundee, KwaZulu Natal (Rilett 1952, Cooper & Kensley 1984, Anderson & Anderson 1985). Ten centimeter long fossils of Unio karrooensis are illustrated from the Ruhuhu Beds, Tanzania by Cox (1932) and are now considered Middle Permian in age (Simon et al. 2010). Yates et al. (2012), however, refer to a Middle Triassic age for these fossils and also question the unionoid affinities of most Permo-Carboniferous records for this bivalve subgroup.

3.14. Borrow Pit BP45

This site is a large existing quarry situated on the south side of the R76 on the south-eastern outskirts of Kroonstad. A well-jointed, deeply-weathered dolerite sill is exposed in high cut faces on the NE side of pit, close to the R76 (Fig. 33). Well-developed subrounded corestones with onion-skin weathering are seen at some horizons (Fig. 34), as well as thin veins of more resistant-weathering basaltic material penetrating the sabunga. The finely-jointed dolerite looks superficially like bedded sediments in some areas.

No Karoo sedimentary bedrocks or fossil remains were seen here.

John E. Almond (2014) Natura Viva cc 35

Fig. 33. Deeply-weathered dolerite sill with veins of basaltic rock exposed in the northern face of Borrow Pit BP45 near Kroonstad.

Fig. 34. Rubbly weathered dolerite showing subrounded corestones in the upper part, western part of BP45 borrow pit area (Hammer = c. 30 cm).

John E. Almond (2014) Natura Viva cc 36

5. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

John E. Almond (2014) Natura Viva cc 37

4637, Cape Town 8000. Tel: 021 462 4502. Email: [email protected]. Fax: +27 (0)21 462 4509. Web:www.sahra.org.za).

5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Dr Jenine Bothma of Chameleon Environmental, Pretoria, is thanked for commissioning this study and for providing the necessary background information. I am grateful to Professor Bruce Rubidge (Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, WITS) for useful discussions concerning the Kroonstad mollusc fossil site.

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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).

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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 development 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

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APPENDIX: GPS LOCALITY DATA FOR SITES LISTED IN TEXT

All GPS readings were taken in the field using a hand-held Garmin GPSmap 60CSx instrument. The datum used is WGS 84. Only those localities mentioned in the text are listed here. Key fossil sites are marked on the satellite image below (Fig. 35).

Kroonstad Quarry Q42.5, 15 November 2013

LOCALITY NO. COORDINATES COMMENTS 423 27 43 13.8 S, 27 14 06.7 E Sandstone float blocks with fossil bivalves 424 27 43 12.7 S, 27 14 05.3 E Tabular cross-bedded sandstones 425 27 43 12.0 S, 27 14 03.6 E Thick-bedded, ferruginised sandstones 426 27 43 11.1 S, 27 14 04.6 E Baked sandstones with undulose tops on plateau 427 27 43 14.0 S, 27 14 07.2 E Sandstone float blocks with fossil bivalves, trace fossils, fossil wood fragments 428 27 43 13.8 S, 27 14 06.9 E Calcareous sandstone with shelly coquina 429 27 43 13.7 S, 27 14 05.9 E Sandstone float blocks with fossil bivalves, trace fossils 430 27 43 13.4 S, 27 14 09.1 E Trace fossils in displaced sandstone blocks, E side of quarry 431 27 43 13.1 S, 27 14 09.8 E Trace fossils, bivalves in displaced sandstone blocks, on E side of quarry 432 27 43 12.9 S, 27 14 08.2 E Sandstone float blocks with fossil bivalves, trace fossils 435 27 43 12.8 S, 27 14 08.7 E Heterolithic thin-bedded sandstone / mudrock succession, NW rim of quarry 436 27 43 13.6 S, 27 14 06.8 E In situ fossil bivalves and trace fossils 437 27 43 13.4 S, 27 14 07.1 E In situ fossil bivalves and trace fossils in heterolithic beds above dolerite sill 438 27 43 13.5 S, 27 14 07.3 E In situ fossil bivalves and trace fossils in heterolithic beds above dolerite sill (key localities) 440 27 43 07.3 S, 27 14 08.1 E Small quarry with thin fining-upwards mudrock successions, thick cross- bedded sandstones 441 27 43 08.6 S, 27 14 05.8 E Trough-cross-bedded sandstones on plateau

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40 m

Fig. 35. Google earth© satellite image of the Q42.5 quarry site south of Kroonstad showing recorded sites for in situ fossil bivalves (yellow), float blocks containing fossil bivalves (red) and fossil cylindrical burrows (blue).

John E. Almond (2014) Natura Viva cc