Abstract
The uplift of the southern African Plateau with its average elevations of ∼1,000 m is often attributed to mantle processes, but there are conflicting theories for the timing and drivers of topographic development. Evidence for most proposed plateau development histories is derived from continental erosion histories, marine stratigraphic architecture, or landscape morphology. Here we use a landscape evolution model to integrate a large data set of low‐temperature thermochronometry, sediment flux rates to surrounding marine basins, and current topography for southern Africa. We explore three main hypotheses for surface uplift: (a) southern Africa was already elevated by the Early Cretaceous before Gondwana breakup, (b) uplift and continental tilting occurred during the mid‐Cretaceous, or (c) uplift occurred during the mid to late Cenozoic. We test which of these three intervals of plateau development are plausible by using an inversion method to constrain the range in erosional and uplift model parameters that can best reproduce the observed data. Results indicate four regions of parameter space that fall into two families of uplift histories are most compatible with the data. Both uplift families have limited initial topography with some topographic uplift and continental tilting starting at ∼90–100 Ma. In one acceptable scenario, nearly all of the topography, >1,300 m, is created at this time with little Cenozoic uplift. In the other acceptable scenario, ∼400–800 m of uplift occurs in the mid‐Cretaceous with another ∼500–1,000 m of uplift in the mid‐Cenozoic. The two model scenarios have different geodynamic implications, which we compare to geodynamic models.
Plain Language Summary
How the southern African Plateau and its high elevations formed is disputed. The plateau is located far from tectonic plate boundaries, and many have suggested that processes below the crust are responsible for plateau uplift. Here, we use a wide range of data that documents the long‐term erosion history of the plateau and a landscape evolution model to test proposed uplift histories. Model results show two types of plateau uplift histories that can adequately match the data. One suggests that all the plateau was uplifted rapidly ∼90–100 million years ago. The other suggests two phases of uplift, one ∼90–100 million years ago, and a second <40 million years ago. We cannot indicate which one is correct with the data that we included, but the results have different implications for processes occurring in the deep earth.
Key Points
Hypotheses for southern African Plateau uplift are tested using large‐scale landscape model inversions
Comparison of models to published thermochronology, sediment flux volumes, and topography highlight four suitable uplift histories
Best fit models either show Cretaceous uplift only or a hybrid of Cretaceous and Cenozoic uplift with different geodynamic implications