Landscapes and Landforms of the Chobe Enclave, Northern Botswana
Thuto Mokatse, Nathalie Diaz, Elisha Shemang, John Van Thuyne, Pascal Vittoz, Torsten Vennemann, Éric P. Verrecchia
Abstract
Abstract The northern part of the ChobeEnclave (an administrative district of northern Botswana) is an agricultural area situated between relatively pristine national parks situated in the Middle Kalahari Basin. It belongs to the Linyanti-Chobe structural basin and constitutes a syntectonic depocenter formed within a large structural depression, known as the Okavango Graben, a tectonic structure of a likely trans-tensional nature. The landscape includes fossil landforms, such as sanddunes, pans, sand ridges, and carbonate islands resulting from palaeo-environmental and palaeo-drainage changes through the Quaternary and associated to (neo)tectonic processes. In addition to river- and wind-reworked Kalahari sands, the sediments include diatomites and carbonate deposits, forming inverted reliefs and originating from palustrine palaeo-environments. The Linyanti-Chobebasin is at the convergence of several ecoregions from tropical and subtropical grasslands to savannasand shrublandbiomes. The hydrological cycle in the northern ChobeEnclave is governed by a complex interplay between the Okavango, Kwando, and Upper Zambezidrainagebasins, which originate from tropical watersheds of the Angolan highlands. Finally, the widespread development of termite mounds impacts the diversity of soils and sediments of the northern ChobeEnclave, which is also reflected in the vegetation.