What is unique about the Etosha Pan?
Etosha Pan, extremely flat salt pan, northern Namibia, covering an area of approximately 1,900 square miles (4,800 square km) at an elevation of about 3,400 feet (1,030 m). This enormous expanse of salt, glimmering green in the dry season, is the largest of its kind in Africa.
How was the Etosha Pan formed?
The pan is believed to have developed through tectonic plate activity over about ten million years. Around 16,000 years ago, when ice sheets were melting across the land masses of the Northern Hemisphere, a wet climate phase in southern Africa filled Etosha Lake.
Where is the Etosha Pan located?
northern Namibia
The 4730 km2 Etosha Pan is a huge, pristine oval-shaped salt pan situated in northern Namibia. It is the central feature of Namibia’s Etosha National Park. It is the terminal playa of the Cuvelai drainage system in the lowest part of the Ovambo Basin at an elevation between 1,071 to 1,086 m above sea level.
Is Etosha a desert?
The Etosha National Park has a savanna desert climate. The annual mean average temperature is 24 °C (75 °F). In winter, the mean nighttime lows are around 10 °C (50 °F), while in summer temperatures often hover around 40 °C (104 °F). As it is a desert, there is a large variation between day and night.
How old is Etosha pan?
It is believed that this natural mineral pan was first formed over 100 million years ago. About 16,000 years ago, the Kunene River in Angola would have flowed all the way to Etosha, forming, for some time, a huge and deep lake.
What other animals besides elephants can be seen at the Etosha National Park name five?
Etosha has healthy numbers of springbok, gemsbok (oryx), blue wildebeest, red hartebeest, Burchell’s zebra, giraffe, ‘desert-adapted’ elephant, brown & spotted hyena, lion, leopard & cheetah.
How old is Etosha Pan?
What is the definition of salt pan?
Definition of salt pan : an undrained natural depression in which water gathers and leaves a deposit of salt on evaporation.
In which region is Etosha National Park?
Etosha National Park, national reserve, northern Namibia. Covering some 8,598 square miles (22,269 square km), it centres on the Etosha Pan, a vast expanse of salt with lone salt springs, used by animals as salt licks.
Why is Etosha white?
The great white place This soil supports very little plant life except for the blue-green algae that gives Etosha its characteristic coloring. In the areas where the soil does get wet elephants can be found wallowing, covering their bodies in the mud that forms. This mud then dries into a light (usually) white coat.
Who owns Etosha National Park?
Biggestleaf.com
EtoshaNationalPark.org is owned by Biggestleaf.com who is working in partnership with Namibia Travel Connection. The objective of the website (etoshanationalpark.org) is to provide visitors with accurate and up-to-date information on Etosha National Park.
Are there Cheetahs in Etosha National Park?
The large mammals in Etosha National Park include lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, giraffe, wildebeest, cheetah, hyena, mountain and plains zebra, springbok, kudu, gemsbok and eland.
What is the history of Etosha pan?
The Etosha Pan is a remnant of that endorrheic lake system. Wind erosion removed most of the river-end deposits and deepened the depression. During the drying and deflation process, the soil of the pan became mineral-rich and brackish. Today the pan’s surface is a flat floor of poorly drained, saline clay.
What are the characteristics of Etosha?
The pan is mostly dry but after a heavy rain it will acquire a thin layer of water, which is heavily salted by the mineral deposits on the surface. Etosha, meaning ‘Great White Place’ is made of a large mineral pan. The area exhibits a characteristic white and greenish surface, which spreads over 4,800 km 2.
Does Etosha pan flood during the rainy season?
Etosha Pan is subject to occasional partial flooding during the rainy season. Direct rainfall accounts for only a small proportion of the pan’s water the majority of inflow during exceptionally wet years is from the Ekuma, Oshigambo, and Omuramba Ovambo rivers of the Cuvelai system.
What is Etosha National Park in Namibia?
The 120-kilometre-long (75-mile-long) dry lakebed and its surroundings are protected as Etosha National Park, Namibia’s second-largest wildlife park, covering 22,270 km 2. The pan is mostly dry but after a heavy rain it will acquire a thin layer of water, which is heavily salted by the mineral deposits on the surface.