SABIE RIVER: Topography, geology and soils

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Map of the SABIE River

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TOPOGRAPHY

The Sabie River catchment falls within the Incomati River basin, which is an international drainage basin occupied by South Africa , Swaziland and Mozambique . The area of the Sabie River catchment is 7096 km2, of which 6347 km2 falls within South Africa .

The topographical features of the Sabie River catchment have been used to divide it into two distinct topographical regions, namely, the Middleveld and Lowveld regions. The Middleveld region, which occupies the western portion of the catchment, is generally characterized by an undulating topography that is more mountainous in the west. The Lowveld region is characterized by a flat to gently undulating topography, except in the east in the vicinity of the Lebombo mountains. There are no large flood plains, wetlands or swamps in the Sabie River catchment (Deacon, 1996). (Ref 2)
    GEOLOGY                                    
The Sabie River is underlain by a wide variety of bedrock lithologies, comprising sedimentary, intrusive and extrusive igneous and metamorphic rocks. (Ref 2)
    SOILS                                    
"The dominant vegetation is a combination of mountain grassland (on the upland areas) and afromontane forest (in gorges and lower slopes). These overlie shallow lithosols and well-developed, sometimes leached, mature soils, respectively. The main geological types are quartzites, shales, basalts, andesites, conglomerates, irons, granites and gneiss."  ."(www.csir.co.za/rhp/state_of_rivers/state_of_crocsabieolif_01/sabie_eco.html)
  References                                      

Ref 2:  WATER RESEARCH COMMISSION (WRC), (2001). State of the Rivers Report - Crocodile, Sabie-Sand & Olifants River System. WRC Report No. TT 147/01: 39pp.
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