Witwatersrand

Common card · No. 236989

The Witwatersrand (UK: , US also ; Afrikaans pronunciation: [ˌvətˌvɑːtərsˈrant]; locally the Rand or, less commonly, the Reef) is a 56-kilometre-long (35 mi), north-facing scarp in South Africa. It consists of a hard, erosion-resistant quartzite metamorphic rock, over which several north-flowing rivers form waterfalls, which account for the name Witwatersrand, meaning 'white water ridge' in Afrikaans. This east-west-running scarp can be traced with only one short gap, from Bedfordview (about 10 km [6.2 mi] west of O.R. Tambo International Airport) in the east, through Johannesburg and Roodepoort, to Krugersdorp in the west (see the diagram at left below). The scarp forms the northern edge of a 7-to-10-kilometre-wide (4–6 mi) plateau (or ridge) which rises about 200 m (660 ft) above the surrounding plains of the Highveld. A number of picturesque Johannesburg suburbs, including Observatory, Linksfield Ridge and Upper Houghton are located along the scarp, overlooking the rest of northern...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Chris Eason from London, CC BY 2.0