(Mekgacha) in the Kalahari, David J. Nash
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Okavango River Basin Groundwater Overview
Okavango River Basin Groundwater Overview Specialist Report prepared by Interconsult Namibia for : PERMANENT OKAVANGO RIVER BASIN COMMISSION Angola Botswana Namibia Ministério da Energia e Águas Ministry of Mineral Resources and Water Affairs Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Rural Development GABHIC Department of Water Affairs Department of Water Affairs Cx. P. 6695 Private Bag 0029 Private Bag 13193 LUANDA GABORONE WINDHOEK Tel: +244 2 393 681 Tel: +267 360 7100 Tel: +264 61 296 9111 Fax: +244 2 393 687 Fax: +267 303508 Fax: +264 61 232 861 PERMANENT OKAVANGO RIVER BASIN COMMISSION (OKACOM) OKAVANGO RIVER BASIN PREPARATORY ASSESSMENT: GROUNDWATER OVERVIEW Report prepared by: Interconsult Namibia (Pty) Ltd P. O. Box 20690 Windhoek With input from Wellfield Consulting Services, and E. Bereslawski March 1999 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 1 1.1. BACKGROUND.............................................................................................................. 1 1.2. TERMS OF REFERENCE ................................................................................................ 1 2 OVERVIEW OF THE GEOHYDROLOGY OF THE BASIN .............................................. 2 2.1 BASIN GEOLOGY.............................................................................................................. 2 2.2 GEOHYDROLOGY OVERVIEW ........................................................................................... -
Explore the Northern Cape Province
Cultural Guiding - Explore The Northern Cape Province When Schalk van Niekerk traded all his possessions for an 83.5 carat stone owned by the Griqua Shepard, Zwartboy, Sir Richard Southey, Colonial Secretary of the Cape, declared with some justification: “This is the rock on which the future of South Africa will be built.” For us, The Star of South Africa, as the gem became known, shines not in the East, but in the Northern Cape. (Tourism Blueprint, 2006) 2 – WildlifeCampus Cultural Guiding Course – Northern Cape Module # 1 - Province Overview Component # 1 - Northern Cape Province Overview Module # 2 - Cultural Overview Component # 1 - Northern Cape Cultural Overview Module # 3 - Historical Overview Component # 1 - Northern Cape Historical Overview Module # 4 - Wildlife and Nature Conservation Overview Component # 1 - Northern Cape Wildlife and Nature Conservation Overview Module # 5 - Namaqualand Component # 1 - Namaqualand Component # 2 - The Hantam Karoo Component # 3 - Towns along the N14 Component # 4 - Richtersveld Component # 5 - The West Coast Module # 5 - Karoo Region Component # 1 - Introduction to the Karoo and N12 towns Component # 2 - Towns along the N1, N9 and N10 Component # 3 - Other Karoo towns Module # 6 - Diamond Region Component # 1 - Kimberley Component # 2 - Battlefields and towns along the N12 Module # 7 - The Green Kalahari Component # 1 – The Green Kalahari Module # 8 - The Kalahari Component # 1 - Kuruman and towns along the N14 South and R31 Northern Cape Province Overview This course material is the copyrighted intellectual property of WildlifeCampus. It may not be copied, distributed or reproduced in any format whatsoever without the express written permission of WildlifeCampus. 3 – WildlifeCampus Cultural Guiding Course – Northern Cape Module 1 - Component 1 Northern Cape Province Overview Introduction Diamonds certainly put the Northern Cape on the map, but it has far more to offer than these shiny stones. -
Okavango Delta - 2020 Conservation Outlook Assessment
IUCN World Heritage Outlook: https://worldheritageoutlook.iucn.org/ Okavango Delta - 2020 Conservation Outlook Assessment Okavango Delta 2020 Conservation Outlook Assessment SITE INFORMATION Country: Botswana Inscribed in: 2014 Criteria: (vii) (ix) (x) This delta in north-west Botswana comprises permanent marshlands and seasonally flooded plains. It is one of the very few major interior delta systems that do not flow into a sea or ocean, with a wetland system that is almost intact. One of the unique characteristics of the site is that the annual flooding from the River Okavango occurs during the dry season, with the result that the native plants and animals have synchronized their biological cycles with these seasonal rains and floods. It is an exceptional example of the interaction between climatic, hydrological and biological processes. The Okavango Delta is home to some of the world’s most endangered species of large mammal, such as the cheetah, white rhinoceros, black rhinoceros, African wild dog and lion. © UNESCO SUMMARY 2020 Conservation Outlook Finalised on 01 Dec 2020 GOOD WITH SOME CONCERNS The nature of the Okavango Delta – a vast inaccessible wetland on the fringes of a sparsely populated desert – gives it a high degree of natural protection. The values of the site remain in good condition overall, largely due to the sites large size and inaccessibility, allowing the site to maintain its largely unaltered, pristine condition through low human impact. Threats to the site are generally of low concern but for a few issues which remain challenging to address. Whilst tourism has some negative impacts, there are very few roads and the industry is built around a high-cost low-volume business model with small lodge facilities accessed by private charter aircraft. -
Review of Existing Infrastructure in the Orange River Catchment
Study Name: Orange River Integrated Water Resources Management Plan Report Title: Review of Existing Infrastructure in the Orange River Catchment Submitted By: WRP Consulting Engineers, Jeffares and Green, Sechaba Consulting, WCE Pty Ltd, Water Surveys Botswana (Pty) Ltd Authors: A Jeleni, H Mare Date of Issue: November 2007 Distribution: Botswana: DWA: 2 copies (Katai, Setloboko) Lesotho: Commissioner of Water: 2 copies (Ramosoeu, Nthathakane) Namibia: MAWRD: 2 copies (Amakali) South Africa: DWAF: 2 copies (Pyke, van Niekerk) GTZ: 2 copies (Vogel, Mpho) Reports: Review of Existing Infrastructure in the Orange River Catchment Review of Surface Hydrology in the Orange River Catchment Flood Management Evaluation of the Orange River Review of Groundwater Resources in the Orange River Catchment Environmental Considerations Pertaining to the Orange River Summary of Water Requirements from the Orange River Water Quality in the Orange River Demographic and Economic Activity in the four Orange Basin States Current Analytical Methods and Technical Capacity of the four Orange Basin States Institutional Structures in the four Orange Basin States Legislation and Legal Issues Surrounding the Orange River Catchment Summary Report TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 6 1.1 General ......................................................................................................................... 6 1.2 Objective of the study ................................................................................................ -
The Hydrology of the Okavango Delta, Botswana—Processes, Data and Modelling
Regional review: the hydrology of the Okavango Delta, Botswana—processes, data and modelling Christian Milzow & Lesego Kgotlhang & Peter Bauer-Gottwein & Philipp Meier & Wolfgang Kinzelbach Abstract The wetlands of the Okavango Delta accom- Introduction modate a multitude of ecosystems with a large diversity in fauna and flora. They not only provide the traditional The Okavango wetlands, commonly called the Okavango livelihood of the local communities but are also the basis Delta, are spread on top of an alluvial fan located in of a tourism industry that generates substantial revenue for northern Botswana, in the western branch of the East the whole of Botswana. For the global community, the African Rift Valley. Waters forming the Okavango River wetlands retain a tremendous pool of biodiversity. As the originate in the highlands of Angola, flow southwards, upstream states Angola and Namibia are developing, cross the Namibian Caprivi-Strip and eventually spread however, changes in the use of the water of the Okavango into the terminal wetlands on Botswanan territory cover- River and in the ecological status of the wetlands are to be ing the alluvial fan (Fig. 1). Whereas the climate in the expected. To predict these impacts, the hydrology of the headwater region is subtropical and humid with an annual Delta has to be understood. This article reviews scientific precipitation of up to 1,300 mm, it is semi-arid in Botswana work done for that purpose, focussing on the hydrological with precipitation amounting to only 450 mm/year in the modelling of surface water and groundwater. Research Delta area. High potential evapotranspiration rates cause providing input data to hydrological models is also over 95% of the wetland inflow and local precipitation to be presented. -
Mega Kalahari Geology: Challenges of Kimberlite Exploration in This Medium
MEGA KALAHARI GEOLOGY: CHALLENGES OF KIMBERLITE EXPLORATION IN THIS MEDIUM Clint Williams1, Brett van Coller1, Tom Nowicki2 and John Gurney1 1 Mineral Services South Africa Pty Ltd, Cape Town.; 2 Mineral Services Canada Inc, Vancouver. obstacles and challenges to the kimberlite explorationist INTRODUCTION attempting to locate bedrock-hosted diamondiferous kimberlite bodies. The paper presents the complexities of this cover sequence, with a view to formulating In southern Africa the name Kalahari refers to a improved kimberlite exploration strategies in this structural basin, a group of terrestrial continental environment. sediments and an ill-defined desert, all of which are intimately linked yet also possess distinct characteristics. The surface units of the Kalahari Group CHARACTERISTICS cover represent the worlds largest body of sand covering over 2.5 million km² of central and southern The Mega Kalahari sediments represent an ancient Africa from the Orange River at 29°S to 1°N in the depositional environment with a complex history in western Congo and southern Gabon (Thomas, which the stratigraphy and age of the deposits are not 1988),(Figure 1). Thomas and Shaw (1990) grouped all particularly well constrained or understood. Low fossil these sediments together under the term Mega Kalahari. content, limited exposure, poor differentiation of the This term has been adopted for the review. dominant surficial Kalahari Sand and a limited comprehension of an extensive duricrust suite has delayed the understanding of the sedimentological and environmental history of the basin. Collectively the sediments are referred to as the Kalahari Group (SACS, 1980). SACS (1980) distinguished 6 major lithological types in the Kalahari Group: conglomerate and gravel, marl, sandstone, alluvium and lacustrine deposits, Kalahari Sand, and duricrusts (mainly calcrete and silcrete). -
Dynamic Evolution of the Zambezi-Limpopo Watershed, Central Zimbabwe
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Online Research @ Cardiff Moore, Blenkinsop and Cotterill Zim watershed_20120408_AEM DYNAMIC EVOLUTION OF THE ZAMBEZI-LIMPOPO WATERSHED, CENTRAL ZIMBABWE Andy Moore1,2, Tom Blenkinsop3 and Fenton (Woody) Cotterill4 1African Queen Mines Ltd., Box 66 Maun, Botswana. 2Dept of Geology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown 6140, South Africa. Email: [email protected] 3School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD4811, Australia. Email: [email protected] 4AEON – African Earth Observatory Network, Geoecodynamics Research Hub, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa. Email: [email protected] ABSTRACT Prospecting carried out to the south of the Zambezi-Limpopo drainage divide in the vicinity of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, led to the recovery of a suite of ilmenites with a chemical “fingerprint” that can be closely matched with the population found in the early Palaeozoic Colossus kimberlite, which is located to the north of the modern watershed. The ilmenite geochemistry eliminates other Zimbabwe Kimberlites as potential sources of these pathfinder minerals. Geophysical modelling has been used to ascribe the elevation of southern Africa to dynamic topography sustained by a mantle plume; however, the evolution of the modern divide between the Zambezi and Limpopo drainage basins is not readily explained in terms of this model. Rather, it can be interpreted to represent a late Palaeogene continental flexure, which formed in response to crustal shortening, linked to intra-plate transmission of stresses associated with an episode of spreading reorganization at the ocean ridges surrounding southern Africa. -
Some Observations on the Cuando River
Some observations on the Cuando River John Mendelsohn If you divided Africa along the Equator into halves and placed yourself at about the center of the southern or bottom half, you would be close to the Linyanti Swamps. More precisely, the Linyanti Swamps are some 2,000 kilometres from the Equator and 1,900 kilometres from the southern tip of Africa. East to west, the Swamps is about 1,400 kilometres from the Indian Ocean and 1,200 kilometres from the Atlantic. Give or take a hundred kilometres, the Linyanti Swamps are pretty well at the heart of southern Africa! These swamps are also the ending of the Cuando River, just like the Okavango Delta being where the Okavango and Cuito Rivers end. All water in the Cuando River therefore feeds into the Linyanti Swamps and normally goes no further. The Swamps are also close to the centre and lowest point of the Kalahari Basin: a gigantic sandpit that is the world’s largest sea of sand. Covering some 2.5 million square kilometres, or three times more than all of Namibia, the Basin extends from the Orange River in South Africa 3,000 kilometres north to the Congo River. At its widest point, it covers almost 1,500 kilometres. While its surface consists largely of wind‐blown sand, a mix of water‐ and wind‐ borne sediments fill the Basin’s deeper levels which extend down hundreds of metres in places. CAPTION: The Kalahari Basin of sand that covers much of southern Africa is surrounded by a rim of higher ground inland of the coast. -
Sport Hunting in the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) Region
SPORT HUNTING IN THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY (SADC) REGION: An overview Rob Barnett Claire Patterson TRAFFIC East/Southern Africa Published by TRAFFIC East/Southern Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa. © 2006 TRAFFIC East/Southern Africa All rights reserved. All material appearing in this publication is copyrighted and may be reproduced with permission. Any reproduction in full or in part of this publication must credit TRAFFIC East/Southern Africa as the copyright owner. The views of the authors expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the TRAFFIC network, WWF or IUCN. The designations of geographical entities in this publication, and the presentation of the material, do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of TRAFFIC or its supporting organizations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The TRAFFIC symbol copyright and Registered Trademark ownership is held by WWF. TRAFFIC is a joint programme of WWF and IUCN. Suggested citation: Barnett, R. and Patterson, C. (2005). Sport Hunting in the Southern African Development Community ( SADC) Region: An overview. TRAFFIC East/Southern Africa. Johannesburg, South Africa ISBN: 0-9802542-0-5 Front cover photograph: Giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis Photograph credit: Megan Diamond Pursuant to Grant No. 690-0283-A-11-5950-00 Regional Networking and Capacity Building Initiative for southern Africa IUCN Regional Office for southern Africa “This publication was made possible through support provided by US Agency for International Development, REGIONAL CENTRE FOR SOUTHERN AFRICA under the terms of Grant No. -
Geophysical Modelling of the Molopo Farms Complex in Southern Botswana
CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by NERC Open Research Archive GEOPHYSICAL MODELLING OF THE MOLOPO FARMS COMPLEX IN SOUTHERN BOTSWANA: IMPLICATIONS FOR ITS EMPLACEMENT WITHIN THE ~2 GA LARGE IGNEOUS PROVINCES OF SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL AFRICA A.S.D. WALKER British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham, United Kingdom, NG12 5GG e-mail: [email protected] R.M. KEY British Geological Survey, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, EH9 3LA e-mail: [email protected] G. POULIQUEN Geosoft Europe Limited, Wallingford, United Kingdom, OX10 0AD e-mail: [email protected] G. GUNN British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham, United Kingdom, NG12 5GG e-mail: [email protected] J. SHARROCK Gondwana Ventures (Pty) Limited, P.O. Box 20241, Francistown, Botswana e-mail: [email protected] I. McGEORGE MSA Geoservices, P.O. Box 2258, Gaborone, Botswana email: [email protected] M. KOKETSO Department of Geological Survey, Private Bag 14, Lobatse, Botswana e-mail: [email protected] J. FARR Wellfield Consulting Services (Pty) Limited, P.O. Box 1502, Gaborone, Botswana e-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT The Molopo Farms Complex is an extremely poorly exposed, major, ultramafic-mafic layered intrusion straddling the southern border of Botswana with South Africa. It lies within the south-western part of the ~2.0 Ga large igneous province of southern and central Africa that includes the better known Bushveld Complex. Integrated interpretation of regional gravity data and new high-resolution airborne magnetic data have constrained the geometry of the Molopo Farms Complex in southern Botswana as a strongly faulted, polyphase intrusion compartmentalised by regional ductile shear zones. -
Rivers of South Africa Hi Friends
A Newsletter for Manzi’s Water Wise Club Members May 2016 Rivers of South Africa Hi Friends, This month we are exploring our rivers. We may take them for granted but they offer us great services. Rivers provide a home and food to a variety of animals. You will find lots of plants, insects, birds, freshwater animals and land animals near and in a river. You can say rivers are rich with different kinds of living things. These living things play different roles such as cleaning the river and providing food in the river for other animals. Rivers carry water and nutrients and they play an important part in the water cycle. We use rivers for water supply which we use for drinking, in our homes, watering in farms, making products in factories and generating electricity. Sailing, taking goods from one place to another and water sports such as swimming, skiing and fishing happens in most rivers. Have you ever wondered where rivers begin and end? Well friends, rivers begin high in the mountains or hills, or where a natural spring releases water from underground. They usually end by flowing into the ocean, sea or lake. The place where the river enters the ocean, sea or lake is called the mouth of the river. Usually there are lots of different living things there. Some rivers form tributaries of other rivers. A tributary is a stream or river that feeds into a larger stream or river. South Africa has the following major rivers: . Orange River (Lesotho, Free State & Northern Cape Provinces), Limpopo River (Limpopo Province), Vaal River (Mpumalanga, Gauteng, Free State & Northern Cape Provinces), Thukela River reprinted with permission withreprinted (Kwa-Zulu Natal Province), Olifants River – (Mpumalanga & Limpopo Provinces), Vol. -
Assessment of Coalbed Gas Resources of the Kalahari Basin Province of Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Zambia, Africa, 2016
National and Global Petroleum Assessment Assessment of Coalbed Gas Resources of the Kalahari Basin Province of Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Zambia, Africa, 2016 Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 4.5 trillion cubic feet of coalbed gas in the Kalahari Basin Province of Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, Africa. 18° 24° 30° Introduction ZAMBIA The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) completed an assessment of undiscovered, ANGOLA LUSAKA –16° technically recoverable continuous (unconven- tional) coalbed gas resources within the Kalahari Basin Province (fig. 1), a geologically complex HARARE region of approximately 648,670 square kilo- meters in Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. BOTSWANA Zambezi Basin As much as 1,500 meters (m) of Lower Permian ZIMBABWE sedimentary rocks are present in the Kalahari Basin Province. Coals are present in the Permian NAMIBIA Ecca Group. Thickness of the coal-bearing –22° Kalahari Basin zone ranges from 500 to 550 m with net coal MOZAMBIQUE thickness ranging from 55 to 125 m. Indi- vidual coalbeds range from 1 m to as much as 30 m thick. GABORONE Twenty-six coalbed gas exploration PRETORIA MAPUTO (TSHWANE) wells have been drilled in the Kalahari Basin Johannesburg SWAZILAND Province, and several test wells in Botswana and Zimbabwe reported recoverable gas content or SOUTH AFRICA –28° production (IHS MarkitTM, 2015; McConachie, INDIAN 2015; Dowling, 2016). Gas contents are as OCEAN LESOTHO much as 9.5 cubic meters per ton (334 standard Durban cubic feet per ton) with gas content increasing Source: U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service with depth.