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SWARTVLEI ESTUARY: Physical Features |
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Topography |
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The Swartvlei system is dammed up behind a Holocene (16 000 BP to present) coastal dune belt, 2 km long and 30 to 75m high. This is bordered in the west by the conspicuous dune rock formation of Gericke Point, and in the east by similar rock formations east of the present mouth. The lake is 8,8kmē in area with a mean depth of 5,5m and a maximum depth of 16,7m. There is a wide littoral shelf which occupies some 3,8km2 and slopes gently to a water depth of 2m, beyond which the lake floor drops steeply to a fairly flat bottom at 12m. The shelf and slope are comprised mainly of sand whereas the bottom of the basin is filled with soft mud (Hill, 1975). The lake volume at a water level of 0,65m above MSL is 48x106m3 (Ref 1) |
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Bathymetry |
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Obstructions |
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