Nonetheless, most geologists assume that the Naukluft’s formation is causally related to the formation of the Damara mountain range around 550 to 500 million years ago.

At the climax of the Damaran Orogeny the rock strata that makes up today’s Naukluft Mountains were set in motion on an underlying layer of high salt-bearing sediments – the sole-dolomite.

Due to the high pressure prevailing during this period, the sole-dolomite became “liquefied”, and acted as a lubricant on which the gigantic massif of the Naukluft (at least a range with a land surface area of 2,100 km²) was thrust – by immense plate tectonic forces – in one piece in a south-easterly direction, to the position where it lies today.
 

Visitors can still find the remainder of the “lubricant” exposed at certain sites in the mountain range today. Pieces of the yellowish- to reddish-brown sole-dolomite, which can be found as fragments next to the road, show signs of extreme deformation taking place under conditions of tremendous pressure.

The alert observer will be able to discern horizontal lines in the nearby slopes. These represent the former thrust plane of the Naukluft nappe complex, which was associated with and made up of the saline sludge (the sole-dolomite described above), and which underlies the entire Naukluft mountain range like a shallow dish.

Dr Gabi Schneider, Director of Geological Survey in Namibia’s Ministry of Mines and Energy, in a chapter entitled “Windhoek – Spreetshoogte Pass – Naukluft – Maltahöhe in her book The Roadside Geology of Namibia (2004), presents an impressive account of the geological conditions that prevailed at the Naukluft.

With this commentary, even the trip from Windhoek or Maltahöhe in the direction of the Naukluft can become a geological delight.

Gebr. Borntraeger Verlagsbuchhandlung