Karoo an immense volume of rocks which was formed, geologically speaking, in a short period of time. Although almost the whole of the Great Karoo is situated on Karoo Supergroup rocks, the geological Karoo rocks extend over a very much larger area, both within South Africa and Lesotho, but also beyond its borders and onto other continents that formed part of Gondwana. The Karoo Supergroup was formed in vast inland basin starting 320 million years ago, at a time when the part of Gondwana which would eventually become Africa lay over the South Pole. Icebergs that had calved off the glaciers
Hydraulic fracturing in South Africa reserve in the world. These figures, however, were based on desktop research and would only be refined through an extensive exploration programme In the present day, the Karoo is a semi-desert stretching over 400,000 square kilometers and home to a population of around 1 million people. The Karoo is divided into two regions: the Little Karoo, which is wet, and the Great Karoo, which is mainly desert. Because of certain exclusions, including topography and townships, around 28% of the Karoo has been estimated to be accessible to commercial development. Unique to the Karoo shale reserves is the presence of dolerite