Rift kinematics during the incipient stages of continental extension: Evidence from the nascent Okavango rift basin, northwest Botswana

Geoelectrical imaging of groundwater salinization in the Okavango Delta, Botswana

“…2 used below for analysis of large-scale salt balance). A variety of hydrological, geochemical, sedimentological and biological processes have shaped the Delta over a range of spatial and temporal scales (Hutchins et al, 1976;Ellery et al, 1993b;McCarthy and Ellery, 1994;Modisi et al, 2000;Gumbricht et al, 2001). One key feature of the Okavango Delta is its strong seasonality, which is due to the highly variable flow in the Okavango River.…”

Early structural development of the Okavango rift zone, NW Botswana

“…Thus, details of the structural and tectonic development of the ORZ are limited (e.g., Scholz et al, 1976;McCarthy et al, 1993;Modisi, 2000;Modisi et al, 2000;Gumbricht et al, 2001). This study has circumvented this problem by employing high resolution aeromagnetic and gravity surveys that provides an unprecedented view of the basement geology and permits us to: (1) evaluate the role of pre-existing basement fabric on the rift development, (2) map the distribution of faults and determine their displacements, and (3) provide insights into the 2D shallow subsurface geometry and basin development of the ORZ.…”

Diagenesis in Okavango fan and adjacent dune deposits with implications for the record of palaeo-environmental change in Makgadikgadi–Okavango–Zambezi basin, northern Botswana

“…This work describes diagenesis in mapped Okavango alluvial fan and adjacent dune siliclastic sediments in the western MOZ (MakgadikgadiOkavango-Zambezi) basin in northern Botswana. The sediments lie in flat though down faulted terrain within a southwestern extension of the East African rift (EAR, Modisi et al, 2000). Subsidence was reactivated approximately 2.4-5.0 Ma along NE-SW trends (Kampunzu et al, 1998;Tiercelin and Lezzar, 2002).…”