Ameib Guest Farm

Erongo

Namibia

June 5, 2024  

Bull's Party.  Surreal Granite Composition *

Many photos depict the enormously impressing granite rock formations of Namibia.  In the Erongo Mountains, at the ancient remains of a volcano, between Omaruru and Usakos one can find a large variety of these surreal appearing formations. Most famous is the Bull’s Party on farm Ameib.

Here the granite rocks formed by "spheroidal weathering" are particularly impressive: a dream for photographers.

Formation of forms

The formations of the Bull‘s Party are a result of millions of years of erosion processes which formed the granite, a very hard but also a very porous rock.

Granite is a volcanic magma which cooled down under the earth surface and was formed by massive volcanic activity in this area about 110 – 130 million years ago. Erosion of the solid granite appeared underneath the earth, fissures formed, and the granite split into blocks by fractures.

When the blocks were finally exposed on the surface due to erosion of the earth’s surface, they were further formed by the extreme fluctuation of night and day temperatures. Through this temperature weathering the outer layers of the numerous blocks chip off.  Over millions of years the temperature weathering rounds off square blocks until virtually round boulders are formed.

The round boulders might roll into the valley and form places such as the photogenic Bull’s Party.

Numerous other weathering processes  of corrosion, desquamation (exfoliation of the outer layers), and solution weathering (decomposition by chemical reactions) can be seen at the Bull’s Party.

The temperature fluctuation in the Erongo is at times so extreme that, for example, a sudden rain shower on an extremely hot day can cause the boulders to split with a loud bang - the so-called radial crack.

Spitzkoppe 

The Spitzkoppe (from German for "pointed dome"; also referred to as Spitzkop, Groot Spitzkop, or the "Matterhorn of Namibia") is a group of bald Granite peaks located,in the Namib Desert of Namibia. The granite is more than 120 million years old and the highest outcrop rises about 1,728 metres (5,669 ft) above sea level.  Video here.

* Thank you to infonamibia:  Namibia holiday planner & online booking system