The Vredefort Structure. Meteorite Impact! The Danger from Space and South Africas Mega-Impact

2005 first edition large size paperback with 318 pages in good condition.

"When geologists wandered the spectacular ring of hills straddling the Vaal River north of Vredefort nearly 150 years ago, they immediately recognised that the unusually shattered and uptilted rocks bore witness to an exceptionally violent event in the distant past. However, it took more than a century of painstaking work before the accumulated evidence revealed the cause - the impact with Earth of an asteroid or comet, the size of a mountain, around 2020 miliion years ago. This book presents an opportunity to travel back in time to this remarkable event - the single greatest geological catastrophe yet uncovered on our planet. It presents an easy-to-read account of the four minites that, quite literally, shook the world. Readers are taken both to the farthest reaches of our our Solar System and back to its beginnings in a search for the source of meteorites. The book shows how the immense violence of the event and aeons of slow erosion have combined to provide a unique window onto the early history of planet Earth and into the deep levels of its interior. It goes on to show how the lessons learned from the rocks around Vredefort are being used throughout the world to teach a new generation of scientists of the reality, and danger, of similar events in the future. Finally, this book reviews more than 200000 years of human habitation in this area of exceptional natural beauty and biodiversity. This history starts with the early San hunters, whose graceful art survives today on rocks formed during the impact event. The successive settlements of Sotho-Tswana, Afrikaner and British farmers are discussed, including the landmark wars the affected the region over the lat three centuries. This book documents the rich geological, archaeological, cultural and botanical heritage presented by the Vredefort region in an easily digestible manner, opening up the information to non-geoscientists. The book concludes with a guide to more than 20 sites that highlight the heritage of this area, which has recently been proclaimed a World Heritage Site in July 2005."