Karoo Origins: A Review

John W. Geissman, Emeritus Professor, University of New Mexico, University of Texas at Dallas, 4513 Altura PL NE, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, 87110-5705
Sandra Kamo, Research Professor, Jack Satterly Geochronology Laboratory, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3B1

Want a recommendation on a most pleasant way to enjoy an afternoon in historic Graaff Reinet? 

The new, as of 2024, Karoo Origins – The Fossil Centre at the intersection of Parsonage and Church Street, across from the Drostdy Hotel, is a celebration of well over a century of scientific discoveries in the Karoo Basin of South Africa, the source of Earth’s most extensive trove of fossils of vertebrates (tetrapods) who lived during the time interval that straddled the Paleozoic Era (Early Life) and Mesozoic Era (Middle Life). 

It is this time interval that experienced the second greatest mass extinction in Earth history (end Permian), with over 90 percent of marine species exterminated and a (debatable) amount of vertebrate and plant species lost. 

Walking into the Centre, you are greeted by welcoming hosts in a very pleasant and modern atmosphere.  The first section of the Centre provides the visitor with a thorough and most well-illustrated history of the fossil discoveries in the Karoo Basin, with numerous documents and other treasures dating back to the late 1800’s and early 1900’s by the pioneering scientists who first recognized the significance of the Karoo Basin strata.  The section is rich in detail and profoundly moving. 

The second section of the Centre provides the “hard” facts, in the context of a truly incredible display of fossils that have been recovered in the Eastern Cape and adjacent Free State.  You roam around the section in awe, recognizing the tremendous amount of scientific endeavors that have gone on over the decades to so well document the character of vertebrate, and plant for that matter, life that existed during this time period.  Given that you are convinced of the preservation of ancient history, you step around the corner into a comfortable auditorium to enjoy a continuously running animation showing these creatures, as best as possible, lurking in their environment. 

Imagine sitting with a big bag of buttered popcorn, because the animation is captivating! 

The following section provides the visitor with a transition into the Mesozoic Era, the time that immediately followed the end Permian, which witnessed the transition into a new faunal and floral environment and the emergence of the dinosaurs.  In the case of southern Africa, this time interval also was associated with a major, voluminous magmatic event at about 183 million years ago, referred to as the Karoo Large Igneous Province, and the Centre has done an excellent job of emphasizing its significance.  In much of the Karoo Basin, Karoo igneous rocks control the landscape, and the erosional remnants have been used for building stone and “fences” and numerous other purposes.  The last section of the Centre brings us to the present and the global conditions under which we live.  It is a celebration of the true splendor of nature that we are surrounded by, leaving one with the impression that our life on Earth indeed is a precious one.

And then there is the gift shop, with a very wide range of treats to take home or to make gifts of, including numerous books on geology and Karoo geology specifically.   If you need to relax and contemplate your experience, the café is excellent, and outside seating is most aesthetically pleasing.

You will not regret your visit to Karoo Origins – The Fossil Centre!