Page 32 - Intra Muros October Issue 2025
P. 32
ESTATE NEWS
Now for my favourite part: the actual The first ring of the crater consists of the The dome, measuring 40km in diameter,
structure. On Google Earth, the Vredefort mountain ridges, the Dome Bergland, with the is the inner core, seen here in a photo
Dome is huge. It is one of the visible Vaal River flowing through them and across taken from the Space Shuttle. This
landscape features in Southern Africa, the dome. The full structure is not shown. version is borrowed from the Otter’s
together with the Cape and Drakensberg Johannesburg sits on the third ring, off the Haunt website. The dome is the huge
Mountains and the KwaZulu-Natal photo, to the northwest. granite plug filling the hole left by the
escarpment. Look at the map below left. asteroid in the middle of the structure.
Do you see the darker half-moon shape The dome is a “granite plug” in the centre This indicates the greatest energy release
below Pretoria/Johannesburg? This is the of a three-ringed crater. The small town of on Earth and the biggest and most well-
Vredefort Dome – images are provided in Vredefort is nearest the centre, but the dome preserved asteroid impact site on our
the pictures above and below. covers a vast area that includes several towns. planet.
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