Lebombo Mountains

The Lebombo Mountains, also called Lubombo Mountains, are an 800km long, narrow range of mountains in Southern Africa stretching from Hluhluwe in KwaZulu-Natal in the south to Punda Maria in the Limpopo Province in South Africa in the north. Part of the mountains are found in South Africa, Mozambique and Swaziland. Kruger National Park and Phongolo Nature Reserve protect part of the range. Geologically, the range is considered a monocline; part of a rifted volcanic margin.[1]

The mountains dominate Lubombo District in Swaziland. Towns in the area include Siteki in the centre, Lubhuku in the west and Mayaluka and Big Bend in the south with the Lusutfu River running past the southern region of the mountain range. At the north lie the towns of Simunye, Tambankulu and Namaacha, and the Mlawula Nature Reserve as well as the Mbuluzi River.

A number of rivers, including the Pongola, Mkuze, and Lusutfu, cross the mountains from west to east.

The name is the mountains is derived from the Zulu word ubombo meaning "big nose".

References

  1. ^ Watkeys, M.K. (2002). "Development of the Lebombo rifted volcanic margin of southeast Africa". GSA Special Papers (Geological Society of America) 362. doi:10.1130/0-8137-2362-0.27. http://specialpapers.gsapubs.org/content/362/27.short. Retrieved 14 May 2010.