Dwyka is the name of a river in the Karoo

Karoo

The Karoo is a semi-desert region of South Africa. It has two main sub-regions - the Great Karoo in the north and the Little Karoo in the south. The 'High' Karoo is one of the distinct physiographic provinces of the larger South African Platform division.-Great Karoo:The Great Karoo has an area of...

 in South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

, adopted by geologists to define the Karoo Ice Age

Karoo Ice Age

The Karoo Ice Age from 360–260 Ma was the second major ice age of the Phanerozoic Eon. It is named after the glacial tills found in the Karoo region of South Africa where evidence for this ice age was first clearly identified....

 some 300 million years ago. Key sites in South Africa show evidence of glaciation, including Nooitgedacht

Nooitgedacht Glacial Pavements

The Nooitgedacht Glacial Pavements comprise a geological feature between Kimberley and Barkly West, South Africa, pertaining to the Palaeozoic-age Dwyka Ice Age, or Karoo Ice Age, where the glacially scoured ancient bedrock was used, substantially more recently, during the Later Stone Age period...

 near Kimberley

Kimberley, Northern Cape

Kimberley is a city in South Africa, and the capital of the Northern Cape. It is located near the confluence of the Vaal and Orange Rivers. The town has considerable historical significance due its diamond mining past and siege during the Second Boer War...

. In South Africa, near the South Pole

South Pole

The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is one of the two points where the Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on the surface of the Earth and lies on the opposite side of the Earth from the North Pole...

 at that time as a result of plate tectonics

Plate tectonics

Plate tectonics is a scientific theory that describes the large scale motions of Earth's lithosphere...

, large ice sheets or glaciers covered high-lying areas. Geologists term this upland the Cargonian Highlands, stretching from what is now the Northern Cape

Northern Cape

The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of an international park shared with Botswana...

 through Gauteng

Gauteng

Gauteng is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. It was formed from part of the old Transvaal Province after South Africa's first all-race elections on 27 April 1994...

 to Mpumalanga

Mpumalanga

Mpumalanga , is a province of South Africa. The name means east or literally "the place where the sun rises" in Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, north of KwaZulu-Natal and bordering Swaziland and Mozambique. It constitutes 6.5% of South Africa's land area...

.

See also

• Karoo Ice Age
  Karoo Ice Age
  The Karoo Ice Age from 360–260 Ma was the second major ice age of the Phanerozoic Eon. It is named after the glacial tills found in the Karoo region of South Africa where evidence for this ice age was first clearly identified....
  
  
• Nooitgedacht Glacial Pavements
  Nooitgedacht Glacial Pavements
  The Nooitgedacht Glacial Pavements comprise a geological feature between Kimberley and Barkly West, South Africa, pertaining to the Palaeozoic-age Dwyka Ice Age, or Karoo Ice Age, where the glacially scoured ancient bedrock was used, substantially more recently, during the Later Stone Age period...
  
  
• Plate tectonics
  Plate tectonics
  Plate tectonics is a scientific theory that describes the large scale motions of Earth's lithosphere...
  
  
• Alexander du Toit
  Alexander Du Toit
  Alexander Logie du Toit was a geologist from South Africa, and an early supporter of Alfred Wegener's theory of continental drift.Born in Newlands, Cape Town in 1878, du Toit was educated at the Diocesan College in Rondebosch and the University of the Cape of Good Hope...