Protalus ramparts and the altitude of the local equilibrium line during the last glacial stage in Bokspruit, East Cape Drakensberg, South Africa

Abstract

A ridge of unconsolidated debris at an altitude of 2000 m, located beneath cliffs in the East Cape Drakensberg of South Africa, is interpreted on morphological and sedimentological evidence as a protalus rampart. The rampart is believed to have formed in the Bottelnek Stadial, after 27 000 BP and before 13 000 BP, and provides evidence of perennial snowbeds and at least discontinuous permafrost in the East Cape Drakensberg during that Stadial.