In the article below, Modern Mining editor Arthur Tassel takes a look at a new publication that showcases some of Africa's top geoheritage sites. Definitely one for the collection! The piece first appeared in the September 2016 edition of Modern Mining.
Readers might recall that in November last year I devoted this column to a review of Gavin Whitfield’s book entitled 50 Must-see Geological Sites in South Africa. A new publication which would make a superb complement to Gavin’s very fine work is Africa’s Top Geological Sites, which has been issued as a special commemorative volume to coincide with the 35th International Geological Congress (35th IGC), which has recently been held in Cape Town.
Book cover
Published by Struik Nature (an imprint of Penguin Random House), Africa’s Top Geological Sites has been edited by Richard Viljoen, his brother Morris Viljoen and Carl Anhaeusser, all prominent in the geological community. In its 312 pages, it manages to cover over 40 sites around the continent and contributors include many well-known geologists. It is pitched at a somewhat more technical level than Gavin’s book (Gavin, incidentally, is one of the contributors to this latest volume) but is still, I think, very accessible to a lay reader.
The new work is profusely illustrated, of course, with masses of photos, maps, satellite images and diagrams and includes an...
