ABSTRACT

Sub-Saharan Africa has 42 countries, climates ranging from humid tropical to arid, and a predominance of ancient Precambrian rocks. Although only a small proportion of the area is karst, and many of the karst areas have never been fully explored, the subcontinent has many significant sites: caves with early hominid remains dating to 4.5-5.0 Ma, the largest underground lake in the world and the fourth deepest siphon, a 305 m deep cave in quartzite, the sixth and ninth longest lava tube caves in the world, caves in pyroclastics that are frequented by elephants and buffalo to lick salt from their walls, and a cave with 5 m speleothems in the floor of an active volcanic crater. It also has an example of the rare labyrinth karst landform, human-induced subsidence into karst cavities as a result of gold-mining activities, and a sea cave in quartzite with large carbonate speleothems and the remains of the first modern humans.