Lesotho Highlands

Lesotho Highlands
Natural region
The Lesotho Highlands from the air
The Lesotho Highlands in a map of Southern Africa.
Country	Lesotho
Elevation	2,000 m (7,000 ft)
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

The Lesotho Highlands are formed by the Drakensberg and Maloti mountain ranges in the east and central parts of the country of Lesotho. Foothills form a divide between the lowlands and the highlands. Snow is common in the highlands in the winter.

The Highlands are located to the southeast of the Highveld, encompassing the whole eastern part of Lesotho. The average annual rainfall is nearly 1,000 mm (40 inches) in some parts of the high ranges. Temperature is closely related to elevation in the Lesotho Highlands. In general, the mean July (winter) temperatures stay around 7 °C (45 °F).

The Lesotho Highlands form a localized high spot on the Central Plateau of the Great Escarpment. This is because it is capped by a 1400 m thick layer of erosion resistant lava which welled up and spread across most of Southern Africa when it was still part of Gondwana. Most of this lava has eroded away together with a layer of Karoo sedimentary rocks several kilometres thick on top of which the lava was poured out 182 million years ago. Only a small patch of this lava remains and covers much of Lesotho. The Lesotho Highlands have been deeply eroded by the tributaries of the Orange River which drain these highlands towards the south-west by means of erosion gulleys which turn into deep valleys further downstream. This gives this high region is very rugged, mountainous appearance. There are so many of these tributaries that the whole terrain of the highlands has a very rugged mountainous appearance, both from the ground and from the air.

The eastern Lesotho Highlands contain numerous terraces and scarp faces developed on ancient flood basalt. The form and development of terraces is controlled by rock structure. The terraces are pediments where cryogenic processes are active. The terraces may be referred as cryoplanation terraces albeit this term is controversial. Each scarp represent a flow unit of the flood basalt.