Vredefort Dome is South Africa’s seventh World Heritage Site. The dome shaped Bergland area is located about 120 km south-west of Johannesburg on both sides of the Vaal River, near the countryside towns of Parys and Vredefort.

2,023 million years ago, a meteorite as big as Table Mountian struck the earth and forever changed the face of our planet. The resulting impact structure is, because of its size, best viewed from the air or from space.

A small region within the Dome Area received World Heritage Status on 14 July 2005. Internationally known as the “Vredefort Dome”, this impact has left a “beauty out of destruction” that is utterly breathtaking, historically fascinating and rich in a unique and diverse micro-ecosystem of fauna and flora.

With over 100 different plant species, more than 300 types of birds, over 70 butterfly species and a variety of small mammals, the site adds real biodiversity value to the area under conservation.

Vredefort Dome is a representative part of a larger meteorite impact structure, or astrobleme. It is the oldest astrobleme found on earth so far. With a radius of 190km, it is also the largest and the most deeply eroded.

Vredefort Dome bears witness to the world’s greatest known single energy release event, which caused devastating global change, including, according to some scientists, major evolutionary changes. It provides critical evidence of the earth’s geological history and is crucial to our understanding of the evolution of the planet.

Despite the importance of such sites to the planet’s history, geological activity on the earth’s surface has led to the disappearance of evidence from most impact sites, and Vredefort is the only example on earth to provide a full geological profile of an astrobleme below the crater floor.

Parys Info and Tourism
t 056 811 4000 

www.parys.co.za

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it