Sua Pan
Topographic depression in the Makgadikgadi region of Botswana
title: "Sua Pan" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["salt-flats-of-botswana", "makgadikgadi-pan", "central-district-(botswana)"] description: "Topographic depression in the Makgadikgadi region of Botswana" topic_path: "general/salt-flats-of-botswana" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sua_Pan" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Topographic depression in the Makgadikgadi region of Botswana ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox valley"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Sua Pan |
| map | Botswana |
| country | Botswana |
| district | Kalahari Desert |
| city | Sowa |
| coordinates | |
| :: |
| name = Sua Pan | other_name = | photo = | photo_caption = | map = Botswana | map_image = | map_caption = | location = | country = Botswana | region = | state = | district = Kalahari Desert | city = Sowa | relief = | label = | label_position = | coordinates = | coordinates_ref = | elevation = | elevation_m = | elevation_ft = | elevation_ref = | length = | length_mi = | length_km = | length_orientation = | length_note = | width = | width_mi = | width_km = | width_orientation = | width_note = | area = | area_mi2 = | area_km2 = | depth = | depth_ft = | depth_m = | type = | age = | border = | topo = | traversed = | river = | footnotes = | embed = The Sua Pan or Sowa Pan is a large natural topographic depression within the Makgadikgadi region of northeastern Botswana. It is located near the village of Sowa, whose name means salt in the language of the San.{{cite book | title = Southern Africa | edition = 4th | author = Murphy, Alan | publisher = Lonely Planet | date = 2007 | page = 99 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=AijmBeQ9_r8C&q=sua+sowa+pan&pg=PA99 | isbn = 978-1-74059-745-6 | oclc = 156530975
The Sua Pan was first described to the European world by David Livingstone, pursuant to his explorations in this region. Significant archaeological recoveries have been made within the Nwetwe Pan, featuring Stone-Age tools from peoples who lived in this area when a large year-round lake occupied the Sua and Nwetwe Pans.
The Brines of Sua Pan being one of the largest playa lakes in the world spans approximately 24,000 square kilometers. While sodium chloride is the prime constituent, there are many other salts found within this area such as sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, sodium sulfate, and minor amounts of potassium chloride (potash).
Currently, Sua Pan is a seasonal lake; it fills with water during the summer rainy season and retains water brought from the Nata River until April or May. Among the more successful wildlife conservation projects in Botswana was the community-initiated Nata Bird Sanctuary in the northeast of this area. It opened in 1993 and was awarded that year the "Tourism for Tomorrow Award" for the Southern Hemisphere. It is supported by members of four nearby villages, who have helped make it a success.
One of the tributaries of the Sua Pan is the Mosetse River. The village of Mosetse is named for it and lies along the river.
Industry
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Makgadigadi_pans,_Sodium_Carbonate_pans,_Na2CO3._Algae_causes_the_red.Camera_at_10_000_feet_altitude_and_ground_is_about_3_280_feet(1000_metres)altitude.-_panoramio.jpg" caption="title=History }}"] ::
In addition to producing sodium carbonate, the mine also produces halite, sodium sulfate and sodium bicarbonate salts. The mine uses a variation of the Solvay process to produce their soda ash and byproducts.
Transport
Sua Pan is the western terminus of the Francistown–Sua Pan 174.5 km railway line.
Sources
- David Livingstone (1868) Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa: Including a Sketch of Sixteen Years' Residence in the Interior of Africa, Harper Publishers.
- C.Michael Hogan (2008) Makgadikgadi, The Megalithic Portal, ed. A. Burnham
- Bryan Robert Davies and Keith F. Walker (1986), The Ecology of River Systems, Springer, 733 pages, , .
Footnotes
References
- [http://www.botswanatourism.co.bw/attractions/sowa_pan.html Sowa Pan] {{Webarchive. link. (2011-02-20 . Botswana Tourism Board.)
- B.R. Davies, 1986
- D. Livingstone, 1868
- (2016). "Africa from MIS 6-2: Population Dynamics and Paleoenvironments". Springer Netherlands.
- (July 2009). "Mega-Lake in the Kalahari: A Late Pleistocene record of the Palaeolake Makgadikgadi system". Quaternary Science Reviews.
- Republic of Botswana. (November 24, 1980). "Botswana Soda-ash Study Contract No. AID/SOD/PDC-C-0407". United States Agency for International Development.
- "Makgadikgadi Pans Climate - Makgadikgadi Botswana".
- Chris McIntyre. (2010). "Botswana: Okavango Delta, Chobe, Northern Kalahari". Bradt Travel Guides.
- "History".
- (2008). "The hydrochemistry of a semi-arid pan basin case study: Sua Pan, Makgadikgadi, Botswana". Applied Geochemistry.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::