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You are here : Home / Caves in Cape Town
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Caves in Cape Town/Western Province |
Caves in Cape Town
The Cape Peninsula is a rocky strip of land near the southern tip of Africa. A chain of mountains runs from Table Bay at the northern end, for 60km to Cape Point at the southern end.
The Peninsula rests on a bed of sandstones from the Malmesbury Group, with granite intrusions showing around much of the coast line. On top of this base are the quartzitic sandstones of the Table Mountain Group. For more details on the geology, UCT has an excellent summary here.
Although the area is not generally known as a caving area, there are numerous small caves throughout most of the rocky areas of the Peninsula. The beds of the top layer of sandstone are mostly horizontal, with extensive vertical joints criss-crossing the surface. Many of the these joints have undergone sub-soil weathering to form cave systems. Although most are quite short, Boomslang Cave is about 400m long and Ronan’s Well is closer to 600m long.
On the Back Table of Table Mountain mechanical forces have created even larger caves. Wynberg Cave and the Bats/Giants system are both long, deep cracks that formed due to movement in the top crust of the mountain. These systems are well known for their unique cave fauna. The White Peripatus and a small crustacean which goes by the name of Speleogrifis are two of the animals which are endemic to a small group of caves on Table Mountain. Recent research has discovered yet more animals which are only known from these caves.
Where the rocky cliffs of the mountains reach down to the ocean, the sea has created many small sea caves. Most of these are quite short, seldom reaching more than 30m to 40m in length. These sea caves have formed in both the sandstone and the granite base of the Peninsula. Most of these caves are still very active, and rough seas can make them very dangerous to explore.
The Cape Peninsula Mountain Chain is surrounded by densely populated areas, and the mountain is heavily used by the local populous, and tourists alike. Unfortunately, the locations of most of the bigger caves are well known, and many of the people who use the caves are ignorant of the damage they cause. This has lead to the degradation of many of these caves.
Despite the fact the caves are so well visited, very little is known about many aspects of the caves. Research continues, but at a very slow pace.
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