Fayaan City

Fayaan City is the capital and largest city of Fayaan. It forms the center of the Capital State.

In December 2021 a referendum decided on renaming the city to Hoopsbaai City by the 1st of January 2024.

Physical geography

The physical geography of the region is largely controlled by the Cenozoic Fayaan orogenic phase. This orogenic phase resulted in the uplift of the entire Fayaan penninsula and the formation of the central mountain belt. Fayaan City is situated in a large north-south syncline-anticline system, with the city center being located in the large fractured syncline that acts as a kind of rift. To the east of the city this structure converges into a single mountain belt. This general structure results in a landscape of mountain belts, large river valleys, coastal lowlands and some plateaus.

Western Mountains

West of the city the Fayaan Orogeny results in two mountain belts: Roodwoudkust Mountains north of the Fayaan Deep, and Ronda Mountains to the south. In between lies the Fayaan Deep sea arm, in a synclinal rift structure. The crumbling edges of the mountain belts created the Noord and Zuid Hoopseilanden islands. Uplifted during the Cenozoic, both mountain belts are made up of a highly folded and fractured Paleozoic mountain belt and its rocks. During the Mesozoic these belts were submerged, locally leaving some Mesozoic marine sedimentary rocks. A volcanic phase has been locally active during the Cenozoic. During the Cenozoic there has been some localized volcanic activity: locally in the Roodwoudkust Mountains between 50 and 35 M years ago, and since about 40M years also in the Ronda Mountains. Historic eruptions occurred are limited to the Kratoe Volcano in July-September 1508, October 1785, March-June 1803 and December 1924-March 1925; the Zwartberg Volcano in October 1826; July 1828; March-April 1956; the nearby Kleine Zwartberg in spring 1621 to July 1623 and a minor eruption in April 1956; and Stille Zwartberg Volcano in August 1608.

Central Zone

East of the Western Mountains lies the Hoopsbaai estuarine zone, where the Maarl, Maandel and Bruine rivers end up in the Fayaan Deep sea arm. Here the Roudwoodkust Mountains turn into the lower and less pronounced Hoopsbaai Mountains. These are a number of low mountains and hilly areas, crossed by some major valleys, and range from the {{node|271037310|Waldberg} to the Kluizenaarsberg. Contrary to the Roudwoudkust Mountains they are no made up of an older Palaeozoic orogeny but are Mesozoic and early Cenozoic marine, coastal, estuarine and local fluvial deposits that were uplifted during the Cenozoic Fayaan Orogeny. Due to their less consolidated rocks, they are prone to landslides and mudflows and are thus not suited for urbanization or agriculture.

South of these Hoopsbaai Mountains lies the large estuarine zone of the main rivers, Maarl, Maandel and Bruine rivers. here Holocene floodplain, estuarine and coastal deposits predominate. Parts of the coastal/estuarine mudflats have been reclaimed, such as the Beaverpolder area and nearby Beaver Harbor, and most parts west of the Seawall. Locally some Neogene or early Quaternary sandy and gravelly river and beach deposits stick out in these Holocene deposits and form very small hills, in Lutetian often called Donk. These were often the preferred places for settlement. The old centre of St Denijs Hoopsbaai is such a donk, with an altitude of up to 7 meters. Also President City is a donk, with an altitude of up to 8 meters. The history of the former Holocene river channels is often complex and not well understood. The Oude Maarl^∈⊾ was probably never a main stream, but rather a side stream of the Maarl. It was still active during the 1600s, but its western connection to the sea was filled up between 1689 and 1720. Another side stream, the Zuidmaarl was a marshland (and former main channel?) until 1637, when a flood reactivated it as a channel. Since then it has formed an additional defence line for St Denijs Hoopsbaai. In 1776 its downstream part was channelized. During much of the last 10 000 years the main channel of the Maandel was located to the south of President City, while the current channel was active as a side stream, making President City an island. But in historical times this channel was already a side channel, or maybe even abandoned. Historical sources during the late 1500s describe this area as a large marshland with several lakes. The defence linie and current railway tracks near the current {{node|269602322|South Station} have been build at the location of this channel. Historical channels of the Bruine are located to the west of the current channel, but due to the construction of the Beaver Harbor little information remains.

Between the estuarine zone and the surrounding mountains, the landscape is made up of gently rolling hills incised by river valleys. This region is often referred to as the Hoopsbaai valleys, even though technically much consists of plateaus and terraces. Here Neogene and early Quaternary estuarine, fluvial and hillslope deposits dominate the hills and terraces, with Holocene fluvial deposits in the valley bottoms. Some late Quaternary river terrace deposits have been preserved. This region has always been a fertile agricultural land but is now largely urbanized with Fayaan City, Maarlen and Roerberg. The Goedsberghen^∈⊾ stand out as the most prominent hill region. They have been formed by more consolidated gravelly Neogene river deposits, that have withstood subsequent erosion contrary to the surrounding terraces.

The southern part of the central zone is dominated by the Ronne Mountains^∈⊾, which are very similar to the Ronda Mountains: highly folded and fractured Paleozoic metamorphic rocks (from a previous mountain belt stage) that have been uplifted during the Fayaan Orogenic Phase. Northwest of them we find the Luccelle-Bolburg region with rolling hills and incised river valleys, much like the Hoopsbaai valleys. Also here we find Neogene and early Quaternary estuarine, fluvial and hillslope deposits, with Quaternary river terraces and floodplains. Uplift is more pronounced here, compared to the Hoopsbaai Valleys, and the landscape is thus more incised. This was an important limit to urbanisation, also because of the occurrence of landslides, and we find here a more fragmented landscape of urbanized areas with meadows. Between North Woodwick and Playa Palmera we find some coastal marshes, which have been urbanized in recent times.

Maarler Mountains

The western region is sometimes called the Maarler Mountains, although other names (Ghost Mountains, Central Mountains, Rainforest Mountains) are also used. This region is the main ridge of the Fayaan Orogeny. During the Fayaan Orogeny it was more uplifted, it has been folded more intensively and underwent more metamorphic processes than the more western mountains of the same age. Its geologic structure is also more complicated and varied. Some parts are made up from Palaozoic metamorphic and strongly folded and fractured rocks, comparable to the Roodwoudkust Mountains or Ronda Mountains. But most are made up of Palaozoic sedimentary rocks (mainly Devonian, some Silurian and Carboniferous) that have been slightly metamorphized and folded during the Fayaan Orogeny. Some Neogene marine deposits can also be found locally. The mountains are incised by some deep river valleys, who's location is often structurally determined. River terraces are common.

Paarl basin

The Paarl and Wolvenburg region forms a geologic synclinal basin (Paarl Basin) between two ridges of the Fayaan Orogeny. Geologically it was first formed as a sedimentary basin between some Palaeozoic mountain belts with coastal and shallow sea deposits from the Devonian to the Cretaceous period. More active sedimentation phases occurred during periods where the nearby mountains eroded, during the late Devionian and Carboniferous Periods - resulting in thicker and mainly fluvial-coastal deposits from these periods. In the Mesozoic the area became less active, and sediment rich deposits made place for increasingly marine calcareous layers. During the Cenozoic Fayaan Orogeny, these layers were tilted due to uplift in the north, south and east, forming a large synclinal basin. Early Cenozoic deposits are deeper water marine deposits with increasing sedimentation rates. Later in the Cenozoic a pattern with coastal and fluvial deposits at the edges of the basin and more (shallow) marine deposits in the center occurs. Somewhere in the early Neogene the entire region was raised above sea level. Several Neogene and Quaternary river terraces have been preserved.

Hoopsvlakte and surroundings

The Hoopsvlakte has the general geological history as described above for the Paarl Basin. During the Palaeozoic period uplift was mainly to the south, resulting in a north-south gradient of more marine to more continental deposits, and sedimentation gradually filling up the marine basin (and thus more coastal and continental sediments) from the Devonian to the Triassic age. Contrary to the Paarl Basin this area was above sea level for most of the Mesozoic, and few sediment have been deposited. As subsidence phase in the west and north occurred in the early Cenozoic at the start of the Fayaan orogeny, renewing coastal and marine sedimentation. Neogene uplift resulted in the area becoming situated above sea level, and sedimentation largely stopped. The center of the uplift was located in the west (Yondo - Landsboom area), resulting in rivers flowing from west to east. Compared to the Roodwoudkust Mountains this uplift was limited, and a plateau like rather flat landscape was formed, with highest points around Landsboom not being higher than 35 m.

Coastal Region

With the Neogene uplift, the coast retreated tot the north and west. An orogenic subsiding basin in front of the coast limited this regression, especially to the west. The river valleys, like the lower Rio Caimán^∈⊾ and to the north the Rio Selva mouth remained below sea level until the late Quaternary. Modern agriculture and related erosion has further resulted in silting up the estuarine systems.

Naturally the coastal plain was build up of some vague marine terraces at the edge of the plateau of the Hoopsvlakte, at altitudes of 5 to 15 m a.s.l. A continues dune belt formed from Mayorga to Puerto Luz in the Holocene. Some small remnant older (Quaternary) dune belts were located north of Mayorga. The construction of the new harbor since the 1930s has destroyed this natural landscape, and only a few remnants remain near Puero Luz.