Robert Broom FRS FRSE was a British- South African medical doctor and palaeontologist. He qualified as a medical practitioner in 1895 and received his DSc in 1905 from the University of Glasgow.
Robert Broom
Bust of Robert Broom and Mrs. Ples
Memorial plaque at the Sterkfontein caves
The Karoo is a semi-desert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its extent is also not precisely defined. The Karoo is partly defined by its topography, geology and climate, and above all, its low rainfall, arid air, cloudless skies, and extremes of heat and cold. The Karoo also hosted a well-preserved ecosystem hundreds of million years ago which is now represented by many fossils.
Typical Karoo vegetation to the south of Matjiesfontein, with the Anysberg Mountains visible in the background
A view from the top of the Great Escarpment in the Karoo National Park near Beaufort West, looking south across the plains of the Lower Karoo: Note the remnants of the former extent of the central plateau on the plain below the escarpment (see diagram on the right). Also note the dolerite sills which top the escarpment and mountains in the middle distance, giving these structures their characteristic flat-topped appearance.
A stylized illustration of the Great Escarpment, based particularly on its appearance in the Great Karoo, where thick erosion resistant dolerite sills (see below; represented here by the thick black lines. The thinner dolerite sills are not drawn in this diagram to avoid clutter) generally form the upper, sharp edge of the escarpment. (In other parts of the escarpment, hard erosion-resistant geological layers similarly form the upper, abrupt edge.) Note the island remnants of the earlier extent of the plateau on the plain below the escarpment (the Lower Karoo), left behind as the escarpment has gradually eroded further inland.
Farmlands along the well-watered, fertile foothills of the more than 2000 m-high Swartberg Mountains (in the background) along the northern strip of the Little Karoo
