The Holgat is not an estuary in the true sense, due to a combination of factors. Although the catchment has an area of 1500 km2, the Holgat last flowed in 1925. The main reason for this appears to be the low rainfall in the catchment and the dune-covered arid hinterland readily absorbs the scanty run-ff. The high salinity of the water in the trench at the mouth suggests that there is very little subsurface freshwater seepage from higher-lying area. The report is part of a series on Cape Estuaries being published under the general title.
Reference:
CSIR, Estuarine and Coastal Research Unit. 1981. Report 5 of the Estuaries of the Cape, Part 2: Synopses of available information on individual systems series, edited by Heydorn, AEF and Grindley, JR. Stellenbosch: CSIR. (CSIR research report 404)
Estuarine and Coastal Research Unit, E. (1981). Holgat (CW2) (CSIR Research Report number). CSIR, National Research Institute for Oceanology. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10204/3487
Estuarine and Coastal Research Unit, ECRU Holgat (CW2). CSIR Research Report number. CSIR, National Research Institute for Oceanology, 1981. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/3487
Estuarine and Coastal Research Unit E. Holgat (CW2). 1981 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/10204/3487
