Table Mountain

Table Mountain, seen here from the north, is flanked by Devil's Peak, left, and Lion's Head, right.

Cape Peninsula and Table Mountain—Landsat image. Cape Town and the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, appear in the foreground. The city center is at Table Bay (lower left), next to Table Mountain. The large bay facing right (South) is False Bay.^[1]

Table Mountain is a flat-topped mountain overlooking the city of Cape Town in South Africa. It is 1084.6 meters (3,563-feet) tall, of sandstone and granite. With nearby mountains and Table Bay, it surrounds the central part of Cape Town.

It is a significant tourist attraction, featured in the flag of Cape Town and other local government insignia.^[2] Many visitors use the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway or hike to the top. The mountain forms part of the Table Mountain National Park.

Geology

The upper part of the mountain mesa (table) consists Silurian/Ordovician quartzitic sandstone, commonly referred to as Table Mountain Sandstone (TMS). It is highly resistant to weathering and forms steep grey crags.

Below the sandstone is a layer of micaceous shale, which weathers quite readily. The basement of folded metamorphic shales intruded by the Cape Granite are of late Precambrian age.^[3]^[4]

Table Mountain Media

Table Mountain as seen from Lion's Head, with low-lying cloud cover over Cape Town
Cape Town under the clouds
Geological structure of Table Mountain. Compare with the map in this section.
Geology of Table Mountain in relation to the geology of the rest of the Cape Peninsula.
Satellite image of Table Mountain, surrounded by Cape Town
A king protea growing in Peninsula Sandstone Fynbos on Table Mountain
Silver trees (Leucadendron argenteum) only occur naturally on the granite and clay soils of the Cape Peninsula, surrounding Table Mountain and the Back Table. A few tiny patches, possibly planted there early in the Cape Colony's history, occur near Stellenbosch, Paarl and Somerset West. This photo was taken on Lion's Head, looking towards the Twelve Apostles.
The Disa uniflora, also known as Pride of Table Mountain, is a showy orchid that blooms under waterfalls, along streamlets and seeps on the top and upper slopes of Table Mountain and the Back Table, in January–March.
Indigenous forest on Table Mountain, with Devils Peak visible in the distance