Detailed knowledge of shelf bathymetry is essential for understanding the long-term geological evolution of continental margins, the extent of the coastal plain as the shoreline moved in response to Pleistocene sea-level fluctuations, and for ecosystems management, resource exploration, and navigation. Although some areas have been mapped in detail, most South African shelf bathymetry is poorly resolved. This paper presents a bathymetric map of the South African continental shelf derived from digital single-beam echo-sounding data collected by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) that is at a significantly higher resolution than was previously available as presented by Dingle et al. (Annals of the South African Museum 98:1–27, 1987). The bathymetric dataset consists of approximately 7 million data sonar points collected by the Fisheries Division of DAFF over the last two decades, covering the entire South African continental shelf area of 541,000 km² between the Orange River mouth on the West Coast and Kosi Bay on the East Coast. The new map not only resolves known shelf bathymetric features in greater detail but also reveals new features. The origin of some bathymetric features remains unknown, but many appear to relate to bedrock geology, sediment deposition (river drainage systems and ocean currents), and sea-level fluctuations.

大陆架水深测量的详细知识对于了解大陆边缘的长期地质演化、海岸线随更新世海平面波动而移动的沿海平原的范围以及生态系统管理、资源勘探和导航至关重要。尽管已详细绘制了某些区域的地图，但大多数南非大陆架的水深测量都没有得到很好的解决。本文介绍了南非大陆架的测深图，该图源自农业、林业和渔业部 (DAFF) 收集的数字单波束回波探测数据，其分辨率比 Dingle 提供的以前可用的分辨率高得多。等。（南非博物馆年鉴 98：1-27，1987 年）。²位于西海岸的奥兰治河口和东海岸的科西湾之间。新地图不仅更详细地解析了已知的陆架测深特征，而且还揭示了新特征。一些测深特征的起源仍然未知，但许多特征似乎与基岩地质、沉积物沉积（河流排水系统和洋流）和海平面波动有关。