The Landslide Blog is written by Dave Petley, who is widely recognized as a world leader in the study and management of landslides. On social media, the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, Republic of South Africa has released two aerial images of the aftermath of the 13 August 2026 tailings storage facility failure at […]
South Africa
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The 13 August 2026 tailings storage facility failure at Dikwena Chrome in South Africa
A major tailings accident occurred last week in a Chrome mine at Dikwena near Brits. On 13 August 20926, a major failure occurred in a large tailings storage facility at the Dikwena facility, owned by Samancor Chrome in the Brits area of South Africa. There are news reports from IOL and the Daily Maverick about this […]
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A Swarm of Earthquakes in South Africa’s Karoo Basin Poses Questions for Oil and Gas Development
A recent study cautions that the Karoo, a potential target for shale gas exploration, might not be as seismologically calm as it appears.
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Gold Mines Expose South African Children to Uranium
A new study found that children living near mine tailings in Johannesburg had nearly twice as much uranium in their hair as children not living near tailings—and the younger the children, the higher the uranium concentrations.
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Rocks Formed by Microbes Absorb Carbon Day and Night
Microbialite ecosystems in South Africa stored an “astonishing” amount of carbon, according to new research.
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Stone Age Humans Chose Their Rocks with Care
Ancient humans possessed sophisticated knowledge of the properties of the stones they used to make tools.
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Ostrich Eggshells Trace Namaqualand’s Ancient Rain
The plant-based nitrogen eaten by ostriches and stored in their eggshells was measured by researchers 20,000 years later.
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Planet Labs images of the landslides at Franschhoek in South Africa
The Landslide Blog is written by Dave Petley, who is widely recognized as a world leader in the study and management of landslides. Last week, I featured a set of landslides that were triggered by heavy rainfall at Franschhoek in South Africa on 23 – 24 September 2023. My good and very kind friends at […]
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Franschhoek: an interesting set of landslides in South Africa
Franschhoek: 299 mm of rainfall deposited by a large storm has triggered an interesting set of landslides in South Africa
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Evidence of Earth’s Oldest Glaciers Found in South Africa
The ancient glaciers hint at an Archaean Earth that may have looked similar in some ways to our own time.