Karst landscapes
Where the continent's caves are, what rocks they are in and how they formed.
Overview
A continent with scattered karst
Three pages on the geology behind the caves.
Much of Africa is made of very old crystalline rock that does not form caves. Limestone and dolomite occur in separate regions, and the caves are concentrated there.
The pages in this section explain how limestone caves form, where the main cave regions are, and how sinkhole lakes and volcanic caves differ from ordinary karst.
2.6bn
years: approximate age of the dolomite at Sterkfontein
100m
height of the tallest pinnacles in the Tsingy de Bemaraha
8
countries represented on this guide
See the sites
Ten caves and karst sites are described on their own pages.