Miocene fluvial systems and palynofloras at the southwestern tip of Africa: Implications for regional and global fluctuations in climate and ecosystems

High amplitude climate fluctuations have been inferred from marine isotope data in the early Neogene, but few well documented terrestrial records exist from this era to gauge the effects of these high latitude events on continental climates and ecosystems. The extensive, three-dimensional exposures of Miocene fluvial and fluvio-lacustrine sediments in the Rondeberg clay pit near Cape Town provide a unique window on this era. Palaeomagnetic data suggests that the deposits accumulated over a period of