Ghaamsberg

Ghaamsberg
Ghaamsberg
Location in South Africa
Highest point
Elevation 1,148 m (3,766 ft) [1]
Listing List of mountains in South Africa
Coordinates 29°14′45″S 18°58′7″E / 29.24583°S 18.96861°E / -29.24583; 18.96861Coordinates: 29°14′45″S 18°58′7″E / 29.24583°S 18.96861°E / -29.24583; 18.96861 [2]
Geography
Location Northern Cape

Ghaamsberg is a mountain in South Africa. situated just east of Aggeneys, in the Namakwa District Municipality of the Northern Cape province, 33 km to the south of the border with Namibia. Its summit is 1148 metres above sea level.

It is noted for its biological diversity.The unique ecologies on the various inselbergs, peaks, hills and plains in the vicinity, having varied rocky and shallow soil substrates, support a wide diversity of plants, animals, birds and insects, including rare and endemic species, a number of them threatened.[3] The writer William Charles Scully wrote that, “for sheer uncompromising aridity, for stark grotesque naked horror, these mountains stand probably unsurpassed on the face of the globe.”[4]

There are proposals for an open-cast zinc mine on its summit.[3]

This mountain should not be confused with Gamsberg, a mountain in Namibia.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Google Earth
  2. ↑ Ghaamsberg
  3. 1 2 Cohen, Callan, Claire Spottiswoode and Jonathan Rossouw (2006) Southern African Birdfinder ISBN 1-86872-725-4, pages 80-82
  4. ↑ Cited by William Dicey, Borderline, p 167.
  5. ↑ Namibia’s Geological Treasures
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