The Cape Flats () is an expansive, low-lying, flat area situated to the southeast of the central business district of Cape Town. The Cape Flats is also the name of an administrative region of the City of Cape Town, which lies within the larger geographical area. Geology and geography In geological terms, the area is essentially a vast sheet of aeolian sand, ultimately of marine origin, which has blown up from the adjacent beaches over a period on the order of a hundred thousand years. Below the sand, the bedrock is in general the Malmesbury Shale, except on part of the western margin between Zeekoevlei to the south and Claremont and Wetton to the north, where an intrusive mass of Cape Granite is to be found. Most of the sand is unconsolidated; however, in some places near the False Bay coast the oldest sand dunes have been cemented into a soft sandstone (calcrete), and form low cliffs at the edge of the beach. These formations contain important fossils of animals such as the extinct Cape lion and also provide evidence that stone-age people hunted here tens of thousands of years ago. Extent To the west the expanse of the Cape Flats is limited by rising ground that slopes up to the steep cliffs of the Cape Peninsula mountain chain (see the photograph on the left), while in the east the land rises gradually towards the equally rugged cliffs of Hottentots Holland mountains and other elevated regions of the interior of the Boland. Climate The area has a Mediterranean climate, with warm dry summers and cool, damp winters. It is generally exposed to the wind, both from the northwest (winter) and southeast (summer). Flooding can be a problem, especially in July and August. Cold wet spells, especially in August and September, can make life very difficult for those living in sub-standard housing. Drainage Historically the Cape Flats was partly covered in wetlands, particularly during winter. Many of these have been destroyed by canalisation and infilling to provide residential space. Many of the remaining perennial vleis are at the southwest side of the region. (Zeekoevlei, Rondevlei, Zandvlei etc.) Elsieskraal River and the Black River catchment (northwest) The Diep River Zeekoevlei and its catchment The Eerste River The Kuils River History Before 1950 The noted English naturalist, William John Burchell, remarked in 1811 that the deep sand of the Flats made travel by