The Makgadikgadi Pan (
Tswana
Tswana may refer to:
* Tswana people, the Bantu speaking people in Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and other Southern Africa regions
* Tswana language, the language spoken by the (Ba)Tswana people
* Bophuthatswana, the former ba ...
pronunciation ), a
salt pan situated in the middle of the dry savanna of north-eastern
Botswana
Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalaha ...
, is one of the largest
salt flats in the world. The pan is all that remains of the formerly enormous
Lake Makgadikgadi
Lake Makgadikgadi ( tn, Letsha la Makgadikgadi, label=Setswana, ) was a paleolake that existed in what is now the Kalahari Desert in Botswana from 2,000,000 years BP to 10,000 years BP. It may have once covered an area of from and was 30 m de ...
, which once covered an area larger than
Switzerland, but dried up tens of thousands of years ago. Recent studies of human
mitochondrial DNA suggest that modern ''Homo sapiens'' first began to evolve in this region some 200,000 years ago, when it was a vast, exceptionally fertile area of lakes, rivers, marshes, woodlands and grasslands especially favorable for habitation by evolving hominins and other mammals.
Location and description
Lying southeast of the
Okavango Delta
The Okavango Delta (or Okavango Grassland; formerly spelled "Okovango" or "Okovanggo") in Botswana is a swampy inland delta formed where the Okavango River reaches a tectonic trough at an altitude of 930–1,000 m in the central part of the en ...
and surrounded by the
Kalahari Desert
The Kalahari Desert is a large semi-arid sandy savanna in Southern Africa extending for , covering much of Botswana, and parts of Namibia and South Africa.
It is not to be confused with the Angolan, Namibian, and South African Namib coastal d ...
, Makgadikgadi is technically not a single pan, but many pans with sandy
desert in between, the largest being the
Sua (Sowa),
Ntwetwe and
Nxai Pan
Nxai Pan is a large salt pan topographic depression which is part of the larger Makgadikgadi Pans in northeastern Botswana. It lies on the old Pandamatenga Trail, which until the 1960s was used for overland cattle drives. The area is speckled wi ...
s. The largest individual pan is about . In comparison,
Salar de Uyuni in
Bolivia is a single salt flat of , rarely has much water, and is generally claimed to be the world's largest salt pan. A dry, salty, clay crust most of the year, the pans are seasonally covered with water and grass, and are then a refuge for birds and animals in this very arid part of the world. The climate is hot and dry, but with regular annual rains.
The main water source is the
Nata River
The Nata River or Manzamnyama River is a natural watercourse in Southern Africa. It is an ephemeral river flowing in Zimbabwe and Botswana. It has a length of 330 km from its source to mouth, 210 km in Zimbabwe and 120 km in Botswa ...
, called'' Amanzanyama'' in
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...
, where it rises at
Sandown
Sandown is a seaside resort and civil parish on the south-east coast of the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom with the resort of Shanklin to the south and the settlement of Lake in between. Together with Shanklin, Sandown forms a built-up area of ...
about from
Bulawayo
Bulawayo (, ; Ndebele: ''Bulawayo'') is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council ...
. A smaller amount of water is supplied by the
Boteti River from the Okavango Delta.
These salt pans cover in the
Kalahari Basin
The Kalahari Basin, also known as the Kalahari Depression, Okavango Basin or the Makgadikgadi basin, is an endorheic basin and large lowland area covering approximately 725,293 km2 covering most of Botswana and Namibia, as well as parts of Angol ...
and form the bed of the ancient Lake Makgadikgadi, which evaporated many millennia ago.
Archaeological recovery in the Makgadikgadi Pan 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''. Pastoralists herded grazing livestock here when water was more plentiful earlier in the
Holocene
The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togeth ...
.
The lowest place in the basin is
Sua Pan
The Sua Pan or Sowa Pan is a large natural topographic depression within the Makgadikgadi region of Botswana. It is located near the village of ''Sowa'', whose name means salt in the language of the San. The Sua salt pan is one of three large p ...
with an elevation of 2,920 feet.
[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]
Geology
![Victoria Falls National Park marker](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Victoria_Falls_National_Park_marker.jpg)
As the ancestral Lake Makgadikgadi shrank, it left relic shorelines, which are most evident in the southwestern part of the basin.
As the lake shrank numerous smaller lakes formed with progressively smaller shorelines. The relic shorelines at elevations of 3100 feet and 3018 feet can be seen mostly easily on Gidikwe Ridge, west of the
Boteti River.
The geologic processes behind the formation of the basin are not well understood. It is conjectured that there was a gentle down-warping of the
crust, with accompanying mild
tectonics
Tectonics (; ) are the processes that control the structure and properties of the Earth's crust and its evolution through time. These include the processes of mountain building, the growth and behavior of the strong, old cores of continents k ...
and associated faulting; however, no significant plate boundary faults have been identified.
The main axis of the developing
graben runs northeast–southwest.
Kubu Island and Kukome Island are igneous rock "islands" in the salt flat of Sua pan. Kubu Island lies in the southwestern quadrant of Sua Pan, contains a number of
baobab trees, and is protected as a national monument.
[Hardy, Paula and Firestone, Matthew D. (2007) ''Botswana & Namibia'' Lonely Planet, Footscray, Victoria, Australia]
page 100
Flora
The pans themselves are salty desert whose only plant life is a thin layer of blue-green algae. However the fringes of the pan are
salt marsh
A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is domin ...
es and further out these are circled by grassland and then shrubby savanna. The prominent baobab trees found in the area function as local landmarks. One of them, named after
James Chapman, served as an unofficial post office for 19th-century explorers.
Fauna
![Flamingo migration Makgadikgadi Pan](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Flamingo_migration_Makgadikgadi_Pan.jpg)
Very little wildlife can exist here during the harsh dry season of strong hot winds and only salt water, but following a rain the pan becomes an important habitat for migrating animals including
wildebeest
Wildebeest ( , , ), also called gnu ( or ), are antelopes of the genus ''Connochaetes'' and native to Eastern and Southern Africa. They belong to the family Bovidae, which includes true antelopes, cattle, goats, sheep, and other even-to ...
and one of
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
's biggest
zebra
Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: the Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. zebr ...
populations, and the large predators that prey on them. The wet season also brings migratory birds such as ducks, geese and
great white pelicans. The pan is home of one of only two breeding populations of
greater flamingo
The greater flamingo (''Phoenicopterus roseus'') is the most widespread and largest species of the flamingo family. It is found in Africa, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, and in southern Europe.
Taxonomy
The greater flamingo was desc ...
s in southern Africa, and only on the Soa pan, which is part of the Makgadikgadi pans. The other breeding population is at Etosha, in the Northern part of Namibia. The only birds here in the dry season are
ostrich
Ostriches are large flightless birds of the genus ''Struthio'' in the order Struthioniformes, part of the infra-class Palaeognathae, a diverse group of flightless birds also known as ratites that includes the emus, rheas, and kiwis. There ...
es,
chestnut-banded plover
The chestnut-banded plover (''Charadrius pallidus'') is a species of bird in the family Charadriidae. This species has a large range, being distributed across Southern Africa. However, it occupies a rather small area.
Identification
It grows ab ...
''(Charadrius pallidus)'' and
Kittlitz's plover
Kittlitz's plover (''Charadrius pecuarius'') is a small shorebird (35-40 g) in the family Charadriidae that breeds near coastal and inland saltmarshes, sandy or muddy riverbanks or alkaline grasslands with short vegetation. It is native to much o ...
''(Charadrius pecuarius)''.
The grasslands on the fringes of the pan are home to reptiles such as
tortoise
Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''tortoise''). Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like oth ...
s, rock monitor ''(
Varanus albigularis)'', snakes and lizards including the endemic
Makgadikgadi spiny agama ''(Agama hispida makgadikgadiensis)''.
The region's salt water is home to the
cladoceran
The Diplostraca or Cladocera, commonly known as water fleas, are a superorder of small crustaceans that feed on microscopic chunks of organic matter (excluding some predatory forms).
Over 1000 species have been recognised so far, with many more ...
crustacean ''
Moina belli''.
Threats and preservation
The salt pans are very inhospitable and human intervention has been minimal so they remain fairly undisturbed, although land surrounding the pans is used for grazing and some areas have been fenced off, preventing the migration of wildlife. Modern commercial operations to extract
salt
Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...
and
soda ash
Sodium carbonate, , (also known as washing soda, soda ash and soda crystals) is the inorganic compound with the formula Na2CO3 and its various hydrates. All forms are white, odourless, water-soluble salts that yield moderately alkaline solutions ...
began on Sua Pan in 1991, and there are also plans to divert water from the
Nata River
The Nata River or Manzamnyama River is a natural watercourse in Southern Africa. It is an ephemeral river flowing in Zimbabwe and Botswana. It has a length of 330 km from its source to mouth, 210 km in Zimbabwe and 120 km in Botswa ...
for irrigation, which would cause severe damage to the salt pan ecosystem. Another threat is the use of quad bikes and off-road vehicles by tourists, which disturbs breeding colonies of flamingos. Illegal hunting in the national parks is a persistent problem.
There are some protected areas within the Makgadikgadi and
Nxai Pan
Nxai Pan is a large salt pan topographic depression which is part of the larger Makgadikgadi Pans in northeastern Botswana. It lies on the old Pandamatenga Trail, which until the 1960s was used for overland cattle drives. The area is speckled wi ...
National Park. The Makgadikgadi Pans Game Reserve is the scene of large migrations of zebra and wildebeest from the Boteti River across to Ntwetwe Pan, while the Nata Sanctuary in Sua Pan is a place to see birdlife and antelopes. In Nxai Pan the
baobab
''Adansonia'' is a genus made up of eight species of medium-to-large deciduous trees known as baobabs ( or ). They are placed in the Malvaceae family, subfamily Bombacoideae. They are native to Madagascar, mainland Africa, and Australia.Trop ...
s painted by 19th century British artist
Thomas Baines
(John) Thomas Baines (27 November 1820 – 8 May 1875) was an English artist and explorer of British colonial southern Africa and Australia.
Life and work
Born in King's Lynn, Norfolk, on 27 November 1820, Baines was apprenticed to a coach ...
are still visible. The area can be accessed between the towns of
Nata
Nata could refer to:
__NOTOC__ Places
* Nata, Botswana, a village in Central District of Botswana
* Nata, Cyprus, a small village near Paphos, Cyprus
* Natá, Coclé, a town and corregimiento in Natá District, Coclé Province, Panama
* Natá Di ...
and
Maun, or from the town of
Gweta
Gweta is a small village in Botswana. It lies about away from Maun and about from Nata.
Generally considered the gateway to the Makgadikgadi Pans
The Makgadikgadi Pan (Tswana pronunciation ), a salt pan situated in the middle of the d ...
.
Gallery
File:Suricatos (Suricata suricatta), parque nacional Makgadikgadi Pans, Botsuana, 2018-07-30, DD 31.jpg, Colonie of meerkats (''Suricata suricatta'')
File:Suricatos (Suricata suricatta), parque nacional Makgadikgadi Pans, Botsuana, 2018-07-30, DD 27.jpg, Meerkats
File:Cálaos de pico rojo del sur (Tockus rufirostris), parque nacional Makgadikgadi Pans, Botsuana, 2018-07-30, DD 13.jpg, Southern red-billed hornbills (''Tockus rufirostris'')
File:Avestruces (Struthio camelus), salar del parque nacional Makgadikgadi Pans, Botsuana, 2018-07-30, DD 51.jpg, Ostriches (''Struthio camelus'') in the salt pan
File:Ardilla terrestre de El Cabo (Xerus inauris), parque nacional Makgadikgadi Pans, Botsuana, 2018-07-30, DD 15.jpg, Cape ground squirrel (''Xerus inauris'')
See also
* ''
Daphnia barbata''
* ''
Lovenula africana
''Paradiaptomus africanus'' is a species of copepod in the family Diaptomidae. As an example occurrence, ''Lovenula africana'' is found within the Makgadikgadi Pans, a seasonal hypersaline wetland in Botswana
Botswana (, ), officially ...
''
* ''
Sigara''
*
Top Gear: Botswana Special
References
External links
Images from the Mkgadikgadi Pans*
{{authority control
Salt flats of Botswana
Endorheic basins of Africa
National parks of Botswana
Ecoregions of Botswana
Flooded grasslands and savannas
Zambezian region