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The Makgadikgadi Pan is a large salt pan in northern Botswana, the largest salt flat complex in the world. These salt pans cover 16,000 km2 (6,177.6 sq mi) and form the bed of the ancient Lake Makgadikgadi that started evaporating many millennia ago. Archaeological recovery in the Makgadikgadi has revealed the presence of prehistoric man through abundant finds of stone tools; some of these tools have been dated sufficiently early to establish their origin as earlier than the era of Homo sapiens.[1]The area is home to one of Africa's biggest zebra populations, and usually only quad bikes are permitted on the fragile plains in single file.
Makgadikgadi is technically not a single pan but many pans with sandy desert in between, but it is all counted in the area estimate. The largest individual pan is about 5,000 km2 (1,930.5 sq mi), and it is seasonally covered with water. By way of comparison, Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia is a single salt flat of 10,582 km2 (4,085.7 sq mi), rarely has much water, and is generally claimed to be the world's largest salt pan. The lowest place in the basin is Sowa Pan (Sua Pan) with an elevation of 890 m.[2]
Pastoralists herded grazing livestock here when water was more plentiful earlier in the Holocene.[3] Modern commercial operations to extract salt and soda ash began in 1991.
The main water source is the Nata River, called Amanzanyama in Zimbabwe where it rises at Sandown about 60 km (37.3 mi) from Bulawayo.
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Geology
As the ancestral Lake Makgadikgadi shrank, it left relict shorelines which are most evident in the southwestern part of the basin.[2] As the lake shrank numerous smaller lakes formed with progressively smaller shorelines. The relict shoreline at +945 m. and the one at +920 m. can be seen mostly easily on Gidikwe Ridge, west of the Boteti River.[2]
The geologic reasons for the creation of the basin are not well understood. It is conjectured that a there is a gentle down-warping of the crust with accompanying mild tectonics and associated faulting; however, no significant plate boundary faults have been identified.[2][4] The main axis of the developing graben runs northeast-southwest.[5]
Kubu Island and Kukome Island are igneous rock islands lying in the Sowa salt pan.[6] Kubu Island lies in the southwestern quadrant of Sowa Pan, supports a number of baobab trees, and is protected as a national monument.[7]
Parks and reserves
Makgadikgadi Pans National Park is a
First crossing by car
The Makgadikgadi was first crossed in a car in a 2007 episode by the presenters of British TV show Top Gear - Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, as part of a challenge to cross Botswana in second-hand two wheel drive cars, not made for off-road, bought for under £1500. (Clarkson had previously crossed the Makgadikgadi using a quad bike.)[8]
All three cars made it through the Makgadikgadi, although Clarkson and May had to reduce the weight of the cars (a Lancia Beta and Mercedes-Benz 230E respectively), as heavy vehicles tend to sink through the salty surface into the mud below, by removing seats, doors, windows and other bodywork - but were still too heavy and frequently broke through the crust of the salt pan, bogging down. Hammond's unmodified 1963 Opel Kadett, nicknamed 'Oliver', skittered across the surface, never losing traction. A Volkswagen Beetle was also driven unmodified across the salt flats, as a backup car in case one of the other 3 cars would break down.[9]
See also
References
- ^ C. Michael Hogan (2008) Makgadikgadi, The Megalithic Portal, ed. A. Burnham [1]
- ^ a b c d Helgren, David M. (1984) "Historical Geomorphology and Geoarchaeology in the Southwestern Makgadikgadi Basin, Botswana" Annals of the Association of American Geographers 74(2): pp. 298-307, page 299
- ^ Chris McIntyre (2008) Botswana: Okavango Delta, Chobe, Northern Kalahari, Bradt publishers, 502 pages ISBN 1841621668
- ^ Cooke, H. J. (1980) "Landform evolution in the context of climatic change and neo-tectonism in the Middle Kalahari of north-central Botswana" Transactions, Institute of British Geographers 5: pp. 80-99, pages 83-84
- ^ Cooke, H. J. (1980) "Landform evolution in the context of climatic change and neo-tectonism in the Middle Kalahari of north-central Botswana" Transactions, Institute of British Geographers 5: pp. 80-99, page 85
- ^ McIntyre, Chris (2007) Botswana: Okavango Delta, Chobe, Northern Kalahari: the Bradt Safari Guide (2nd edition) Bradt, Chalfont, St. Peter, England, page 381, ISBN 978-1-84162-166-1
- ^ Hardy, Paula and Firestone, Matthew D. (2007) Botswana & Namibia Lonely Planet, Footscray, Victoria, Australia, page 100, ISBN 978-1-74104-760-8
- ^ "Clarkson's incredible journey, Top Gear magazine". 2006-11-02. http://www.topgear.com/content/features/stories/2006/11/stories/02/1.html.
- ^ "Season 10, Episode 4". Top Gear. BBC. 2007-11-04.
External links
Coordinates: 20°43′0″S 24°57′3″E / 20.716667°S 24.95083°E
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