Estuaries of the Cape. Part I: Synopsis of the Cape Coast - Natural Features, Dynamics and Utilization

(Stellenbosch: National Research Institute for Oceanology, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, 1980) 0798817941. 295 x 415 mm; pictorial card wrappers; pp. 96 + (i); maps and charts, incl. fold-out end map; tables; colour plates. Very slightly rubbed; merest trace of foxing; earlier owner's bookplate to front free endpaper. Very good condition. English text with Afrikaans summary. "Early in 1979 the National Research Institute for Oceanology was commissioned ... to put together all available knowledge on the 167 estuaries of the Cape Province between the Kei in the north-east and the Orange in the north-west. ... Because of the large diversity in environmental conditions along the 2200 km of Cape coastline and in the catchments of rivers feeding estuaries, it was essential to produce an introductory document describing the variety of factors influencing estuaries in different coastal regions. No estuary can be regarded as an entity in itself, but must rather be seen as a focal point on the coast subjected to a combination of influences of terrestrial, marine and climatic origin. Included in the present report are, therefore, concise descriptions of environmental determinants such as geomorphology, climatology, catchment hydrography, plant ecology and oceanography as they pertain to the Cape coast. ... Part I of the report on Cape estuaries is therefore aimed at providing an interdisciplinary baseline which will be useful not only to research on Cape estuaries, but to all facets of coastal research and management. Extensive use has been made of maps and diagrams to facilitate reading and to economize on text." .