Hakskeenpan
| Hakskeenpan | |
|---|---|
 Hakskeenpan
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| Coordinates: 26°49′22.88″S 20°08′17.58″E / 26.8230222°S 20.1382167°ECoordinates: 26°49′22.88″S 20°08′17.58″E / 26.8230222°S 20.1382167°E | |
| Country | South Africa |
| Province | Northern Cape |
| Region | Mier |
| Altitude | 801 meters (2,628 ft) |
| Time zone | SAST (UTC+2) |
Hakskeenpan is a mud and salt pan in the Kalahari Desert, in Southern Africa. It is located in the Mier region in the Northern Cape Province, in South Africa, at 801 meters (2,628 ft) above sea level. The pan covers an area of approximately 140 km2 (54mi2).
The present day Kalahari landscape—essentially an inland sand sea sitting within an uplifted sedimentary basin—is the result of a variety of interacting tectonic and geomorphological processes that have operated over considerable timescales. The initial development of the Kalahari was closely linked to the evolution of the African landmass following the break-up of the supercontinent Gondwanaland during the Mesozoic. The gradual separation of Africa from present-day Australia, Antarctica, India and South America was associated with progressive heating and rifting of the crust, which led to the uplift of the southern African continental margin in the mid- to Late Cretaceous. The development of this uplifted margin had significant implications for regional fluvial systems; the end product was a dual drainage pattern consisting primarily of short rivers draining directly into the sea off the Great Escarpment and longer rivers draining inland and never reaching the sea.
Pans are small, closed basins or depressions that contain seasonally flooded lakes and are characteristic of arid to semi-arid regions of low relief. They are also of considerable importance as point water sources for both humans and wildlife. Pans occur throughout the Kalahari, as far north as Zambia, but are a particularly significant component of the landscape in regions with (i) an annual rainfall of less than 500 mm and (ii) underlying rock or sediment that is susceptible to erosion by the wind. The southern Kalahari meets both of these criteria.
Two areas containing concentrations of pans occur within the southern Kalahari: (i) a broad zone extending from Upington, across the lower Molopo and northwards into Namibia and (ii) a smaller area between Vryburg in North West Province and Tsabong in Botswana. Within these zones, pans occur as isolated landscape features but also within depressions in the floors of dry valleys and palaeodrainage lines, and in the corridors between linear dunes. The majority lack any surface inflow, although some may have short, poorly developed channels that supply run-off during major rainfall events. Hakskeen Pan is one of the largest isolated pans in the South African Kalahari, the other notable one being Koppieskraal Pan immediately south-west of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park.
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Wikipedia