Weld (from the Netherlands. Veld - "field") - vast arid plateaus in South Africa , mainly in South Africa , located in the interfluve of the Limpopo and Baal rivers and in the upper reaches of the Orange River. They form a series of steps rising to the Dragon Mountains and lowering to the Kalahari Depression and the Limpopo Valley .
There are Low Weld , Middle Weld , High Weld , as well as Bushveld .
Content
Description
General characteristics
The climate of the plateau is continental subtropical . The amount of precipitation is 600-800 mm per year. The average annual temperatures are positive (12-23 ° C). Above 1800 m, snow sometimes falls.
Xerophytic thorny shrubs ( bushveld ) predominate in the vegetation . Subtropical coniferous forests from the podocarpus and other conifers grow along river valleys. Part of the territory has been plowed for maize , winter wheat , cotton , tobacco . There are orchards and pastures . The rich fauna (various species of antelopes , zebras , lions , leopards ) is stored in reserves .
Deposits of gold , uranium ores , coal , diamonds , as well as platinum , iron , titanium and vanadium ores , chromites are being developed on the plateau.
Low Weld
Low Veld ( African: Laeveld , Laefeld [1] ; English Low Veld ) is located on the right bank of the Limpopo River. It is an ancient peneplen (slightly hilly plain) Precambrian crystalline basement. It is divided by wide valleys. The height is from 300 to 600 m. It is covered with a savanna with a baobab and a mopane tree.
Middle Weld
Between Baal and the upper reaches of Ulifants, there is the Middle Veld ( African Middelveld , Middelfeld [1] ; English Middle Veld ). It is composed almost horizontally of sandstones , schists, and other sedimentary rocks . Its height is 800–1300 m. Isolated peaks — spears — rise above the middle wild . The middle veld is covered in the west by xerophytic shrubs, in the east - by cereals . In the Kimberley area, diamonds are being mined.
High Weld
High Veld [2] ( African Hoëveld , Houfeld [1] ; English High Veld ) lies between the Orange and Baal rivers . It has a geological structure similar to the Middle Weld. The height of this part of the plateau decreases from a height of 2000 m in the northeast to 1200 m in the southwest. In the altitude range 1200–2000 m, the surface is covered with a continuous cereal cover up to 1 m high. The most important deposits of gold and uranium in South Africa are located in the Witwatersrand ridge in the northern part of the high Weld.
Bushveld
North of the capital of South Africa , the city of Pretoria , Low Veld goes to Busheveld [3] [4] ( African Bosveld , Bospheld ; English Bush Veld ). Its height does not exceed 900 m. Bushveld is composed of igneous rocks and covered with thickets of thorny shrubs ( acacia species).
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 Instructions for the transfer on the maps of geographical names of the Republic of South Africa (from Afrikaans). - M., 1968 .-- S. 22.
- ↑ Veld // Dictionary of geographical names of foreign countries / resp. ed. A.M. Komkov . - 3rd ed., Revised. and add. - M .: Nedra , 1986.- S. 83.
- ↑ East of the Republic of South Africa // Atlas of the World / comp. and preparation. to the ed. PKO "Cartography" in 1999; open Ed .: T.G. Novikova , T.M. Vorobyova . - 3rd ed., Eras., Fr. in 2002 with diaposes. 1999 - M .: Roskartografiya, 2002. - S. 202. - ISBN 5-85120-055-3 .
- ↑ Veld // Dictionary of geographical names of foreign countries / resp. ed. A.M. Komkov . - 3rd ed., Revised. and add. - M .: Nedra , 1986.- S. 64.
Links
- Veld // The Greater Caucasus - The Grand Canal. - M .: Great Russian Encyclopedia, 2006. - S. 716. - ( Great Russian Encyclopedia : [in 35 vols.] / Ch. Ed. Yu. S. Osipov ; 2004—2017, vol. 4). - ISBN 5-85270-333-8 .
- Veld // Great Soviet Encyclopedia : [in 30 vol.] / Ch. ed. A.M. Prokhorov . - 3rd ed. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969-1978. .
- Weld - an article from the Geographic Encyclopedia.