Some Aspects of Valley Asymmetry in the High Drakensberg

Abstract

Abstract Considering the extent of geocryological activity in southern Africa, valley asymmetry, like many other aspects of periglacial geomorphology, is little understood. This study, based primarily on analysis of 1:50 000 maps, provides evidence for south-facing slopes having steeper gradients than north-facing slopes in the high Drakensberg region of southern Africa. The fact that periglacial features are active today at high altitudes provides evidence for the hypothesis that this asymmetry could, at least partially, have resulted from former periglacial processes during the cooler climate of the Pleistocene.