Sand ramps as palaeoenvironmental archives: Integrating general principles and regional contexts through reanalysis of the Klipkraal Sands, South Africa

Klipkraal Sands is a sand ramp on the north-eastern margin of the semi-arid Karoo that has been important for inferences of the extent of southern African Late Quaternary aeolian activity (Thomas et al., 2002). We reanalyse this feature, in the light of both its significance and other recent studies that have inferred extensive southern African LGM aeolian activity (Telfer et al., 2012, 2014). New sedimentological data and twelve OSL dates indicate the Klipkraal Sands formed episodically between ~100-0.14 ka, rather than accumulating rapidly, while sedimentological data question the aeolian affinities of the bulk of the feature. Therefore, Klipkraal is reinterpreted as showing no particular affinity to the LGM, with sediments locally sourced with a significant colluvial component. Only the upper historical sediments can be clearly interpreted as aeolian deposits. A complex interplay of processes is suggested, for which a meaningful palaeoenvironmental interpretation cannot be easily defined. This implies that the local geomorphic processes and controls operating on sand ramps need to be established before they can be fully utilised as palaeoenvironmental archives, with implications for their interpretation worldwide.