Karoo Supergroup of the country, and in the Lebombo mountains along the Mozambique border. Once the layer of hard lava was eroded away, the softer Karoo sediments over the rest of the basin eroded even faster. However, the dolerite sills resisted erosion, protecting the softer Beaufort and Ecca shales beneath them. This created numerous and widespread flat topped hills, known as Karoo Koppies ("koppie" being the Afrikaans term for hill), which are iconic of the Karoo, and, by extension, the South African landscape. The dykes, or vertical fissures which brought the lava to the surface stand out today as linear ridges extending
Central Desert Region councillors were held on 25 October 2008. The President (Mayor) of the Central Desert Regional Council is Adrian Dixon and the Deputy President is Norbert Jampijinpa Patrick. Much of the council's area had been unincorporated, and several Community Government Councils were merged into the Central Desert Region. These were: Changes to the NT Local Government Legislation in 2013 changed the names of Shire to Regional Councils and thus the Central Desert Shire became the Central Desert Regional Council with effect from 1 January 2014. The Central Desert Regional Council is divided into 4 wards, which is governed by 12 councillors