Geology
The study area is a dominated by plains, as it is part of the Makgadikgadi basin. The basin originated as a craton when the fault system created the depression. This granitic craton (the Zimbabwe-Kalahari axis) is capped by Archaean metasediments and the Karoo sequence. This depression was then subsequently infilled by Kalahari Group sediments - mainly the duricrusts (calcretes and silcretes) and lacustrine deposits as well as the sands. The climate in the past was wetter; hence the area had a mega-lake system whose desiccation has left several shorelines in the area, one of which is the Gidikwe sand ridge. It is this former lake bed which is now a plain.
