The Makgadikgadi Basin, a Dynamic Hydrological Input and Aeolian Output System
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
The Makgadikgadi basin, a dynamic hydrological input and aeolian output system. Frank D. Eckardt a,* , Robert G. Bryant b, Warren W. Wood c, Kevin White d, Baruch Spiro e, Graham McCulloch f a Environmental and Geographical Sciences, U niversity of Cape T own, P Bag X3, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa b Department of Geography, Uni versity of Sheffiel d, Dept. of Geography, Wi nter Street, Sheffiel d, S10 2TN, U K c Department of Geol ogical Sciences, Michigan State Uni versity, East Lansi ng, Michigan 48824, USA d Department of Geography, The Uni versity of R eading, Whiteknights, R eading, UK e Department of Miner alogy, The Natural Histor y Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK f Department of Z ool ogy, Uni versity of Dublin, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Irel and * Correspondi ng author: [email protected] This study focuses on modern day processes surrounding the Makgadikgadi pan basin system in NE Botswana. We present results on the chemistry and dynamics of fluvial surface water inputs, examine the nature and chemistry of various surface and subsurface evaporation products, provide data on the nature and chemistry of aeolian outputs and demonstrate the impact of aerosol deposition in the downwind sector of the pans. During the wet season surface water enters the saline pans and precipitates mostly calcite and halite, as well as dolomite and traces of other salts associated with the desiccation of the lake. The hypersaline subsurface brine (up to TDS 190,000 mg/l) is homogenous with minor variations due to pumping by BotAsh mine (Botswana Ash (Pty) Ltd), which extracts 2400 m 3 of brine/h from a depth of 38m. Average Pan surface sediments yielded 15 % Na and 22 % Cl which has been identified in the downwind dust and could be traced as far as Johannesburg during a single dust episode in 2003 . Data for the 1980–2000 period suggest that dust loadings are intermittently influenced by the extent and frequency of lake inundation, fluvial sediment influx, and surface wind speed variability. In addition, a significant proportion of the observed variability in the dust and hydrological cycle of this source could be attributed to El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Indian Ocean sea surface temperature anomalies. Detailed soil chemistry data suggests that the pans produce over three million metric tons of chloride, sodium, and bicarbonate each year. In addition it was noted that significant masses of naturally-occurring radioactive 226-radium and 238-uranium are present in the aerosol load. Keywords: Makgadikgadi, hydrology, brine, evaporites, aerosols The Makgadikgadi Basin A Dynamic Hydrological input and Aeolian Output System Presented By Frank Eckardt EGS Department University of Cape Town Rondebosch South Africa 945 m Gamsberg Southern African Topography 2000 Kalahari Basin Escarpment 1500 Elevation (m) Windhoek Ghanzi 1000 500 Kuiseb Limpopo 0 800 600 Rainfall (mm) 400 200 0 Swakopmund Hyper-arid Karibib Windhoek Witvlei Semi-arid Gobabis Southern African Rainfall Ghanzi Rakops Serowe Francistown Tropical Gaborone Johannesburg Maputo A Dynamic System Florida Air Boat June 2005 April 2000 April 2008 August 2003 Regatta on Sua Pan Bigg G - Department of Geography, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK Bryant RG - Department of Geography, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK Coetzee S - University of Botswana, Gaborone Botswana Eng K - U. S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia , USA Helmlinger M – NASA JPL, Pasadena, California USA Irvine K - Department of Zoology, University of Dublin, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland Kraemer T U. S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia, USA Nkala G - Botash Pty. Ltd, Sua Town, Botswana Mahowald N - National Centre for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado, USA McCulloch G - Department of Zoology, University of Dublin, Dublin , Ireland Resane T - University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa Ross S - Department of Geography, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK Spiro B Department of Mineralogy, The Natural History Museum, London Vickery K - Environmental and Geographical Science, Uni of Cape Town, South Africa Washington R – School of Geography, Oxford, UK White K - Department of Geography, The University of Reading, Reading, UK Wood WW - Department of Geological Sciences, Michigan State University,USA Wood WW, Eckardt FD, Kraemer TF, Eng K.(in press) Quantitative eolian transport of evaporate salts from the Makgadikgadi Depression (Ntwetwe and Sua Pans) in northeastern Botswana. Implications for regional ground-water quality. In Sabka Ecosystems Volume 3, Africa, Barth H-J, Böer B (eds) Kluwer: Dordrecht. Eckardt FD, R.G. Bryant, G. McCulloch, B. Spiro, W. W. Wood (2008) The hydrogeochemistry of a semi-arid pan basin case study: Makgadikgadi, Botswana Applied Geochemistry, Volume 23, Issue 6, Pages 1563-1580 Bryant R.G. Bigg G., Mahowald N, Eckardt FD, and Ross S. (2007). Climate controls on dust emissions from S African sources. Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres. Volume 23, Issue 6, June 2008, Pages 1563-1580 McCulloch, G., Irvine, K., Eckardt, FD. and Bryant, R. (2007).Hydrochemical fluctuations and crustacean community composition in an ephemeral saline lake (Sua Pan, Makgadikgadi Botswana). Hydrobiologia, vol. 596, no. 1, pp. 31-46 White K, Eckardt FD (2006) Geochemical mapping of the Makgadikgadi basin, Botswana using moderate and high resolution remote sensing instruments, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 31: 665-681 SAFARI 2000 Aerosols in Southern Africa Drought 2000 Lake Bryant R.G. Bigg G., Mahowald N, Eckardt FD, and Ross S. (2007). Climate controls on dust emissions from S African sources. Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres. Volume 23, Issue 6, June 2008, Pages 1563-1580. Input The Nata River is the most important source of lake water in the Makgadikgadi Bryant R.G. et al Input Flamingo Tracking Brine Shrimp & Water Feed Breed Data via McCulloch Surface Water Samples Input Inflow water 87 mg/l to 1,711 mg/l • River Inputs and Dec Lake samples 258 mg/l to 17,788 mg/l • Lake Brine Evolution April Lake samples 709 mg/l to 31,172 mg/l Eckardt FD et al. North Lake (NL) Middle Lake (ML) Flood Water (FW) South Lake (SL) From Input to Storage • The soils in the catchment add much of the Ca, HCO3, Mg and K • Inflow into Sua generally Ca–HCO3 • Transformation from calcium and bicarbonate rich water to sodium and chloride domination • Mixing of surface waters and recycling of surface salts • Production wells and lake waters are tightly grouped in the Na and Cl sectors • Na and Cl are most likely provided by marine atmospheric aerosols Cations Anions Eckardt FD, R.G. Bryant, G. McCulloch, B. Spiro, W. W. Wood (2008) The hydrogeochemistry of a semi-arid pan basin case study: Makgadikgadi, Botswana Applied Geochemistry, Volume 23, Issue 6, Pages 1563-1580 Subsurface Water Samples Storage • Subsurface Brine Wellfield • Production and Monitoring Wells 38m depth . Wellfield (WF) From Input to Storage Ion log concentration (mmol/L) plotted against Cl Average Flood Water (FW) North Lake (NL) Middle Lake (ML) South Lake (SL) Na and K and remain in solution Wellfield (WF) . Eckardt FD et al. From Input to Storage Ca and Mg are lost from solution as evaporation products (calcite and dolomite formation) Eckardt FD et al. From Input to Storage SO2 remains in solution Eckardt FD et al. The Earth Observatory Storage & Brine Product • 98 wells operational since 1991 • brine 90,000-190,000 mg/l • rate of 2400m 3/h • deposit 1 billion m 3 • semi-confined clay aquifer Evaporation Products Sodium Carbonate Na2CO 3 Sodium Sulphate Na2SO 4 Sodium Chloride NaCl Eckardt FD et al. Storage δ34 S average 34.35 (Sulphur Isotopes) Makgadikadi Namibia • It appears that the major control on the variability of d34S is its source. • Schroder et al. (2004) studied the d34S of sulfates in Oman across the Neoproterozoic Cambrian boundary • Global marine value for that period is in the range 35–40‰. • Further high values of d34S are reported from sulfates of Cambrian age elsewhere • Claypool et al., (1980), Irkutsk Basin, 26.7–34.2‰, Amadeus Basin, 26.8–32.0‰, • Peryt et al. (2005), East Siberian Basin, 22.6–34.5‰. Eckardt FD et al. Storage 87 Sr/ 86 Sr (Strontium Isotopes) Nata River North Lake Subsurface Brine 0.730000 0.728000 0.726000 0.724000 Min Max 0.722000 0.720000 0.718000 0.716000 d rth le oo tse Lake Nat a e dd Fl os No Mi South mowane M e S Subsurface •Sr isotope for surface water from the Nata River and Lake are decoupled from the underlying brine •The variability indicator of the heterogeneity of the sources at Sua Pan •Subsurface water has a limited response to changes in surface processes. Eckardt FD et al. Output Southern Africa Burning Biomass 6000 km 2 Peak Aerosol Emission in September JAS TOMS Mean 1980-1999 Worlds Dustiest Place (Top11) TOMS AI Rainfall mm Bodele D epressi on of south central Sahara >30 17 West Sahar a in Mali and Mauritania >24 5–100 Arabia (souther n Oman/Saudi border) >21 <100 Eastern Sahara (Li bya) >15 22 Southwest Asi a (Makran coast) >12 98 Taklamakan/Tarim Basin >11 <25 Etosha Pan (Namibia) >11 435–530 Lake Eyre Basi n (Australia) >11 150–200 9 Makg adikg adi Basin (Botswan a) >8 460 Salar de U yuni (Bolivia) >7 178 Great Basi n (United States) >5 400 10 9 Etosha Makadikadi 8 7 6 5 4 3 Mea n Monthly TOMSA AI 2 1 0 jan feb mar apr m ay jun jul aug s ep oct nov dec Via Richard Washington Output • Historic stockpile – Loess soils (China), Bodele (Transport Ltd.) Global Dust • Pan – Seasonal replenishment (Amadeus, Etosha) (Supply Ltd.) Point Sources • Desertification (Dust Bowl 1934/Sahel 60-70‘s) • Palaeolake margin – recent exposure (Aral Sea, Owens L.) Output Meteosat Daily Dust 2005-2008 MSG Brightness Temperature Temperature Brightness Product “Pink Dust Method” MODIS True Colour Kathryn Vickery - EGS MSc Dust Samples Dust Quartz Output Si is the prevailing element Sticky SEM Stub Halite NaCl is a pan/evaporative indicator Clay Calcium Also found Al, Fe, Ca as well as K and Mg Eckardt FD et al.