The Tsauchab is an
ephemeral river in the
Hardap Region of central
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...
. Its source is in the southern
Naukluft Mountains, from where it flows westwards through the
Namib-Naukluft National Park
The Namib-Naukluft National Park is a national park in western Namibia, situated between the coast of the Atlantic Ocean and the edge of the Great Escarpment. It encompasses part of the Namib Desert (considered the world's oldest desert), the ...
into
Sossusvlei, an
endorheic basin
An endorheic basin ( ; also endoreic basin and endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water (e.g. rivers and oceans); instead, the water drainage flows into permanent ...
. The lower river has in the past had a slightly different courses and also formed two other basins, the
Deadvlei and the Hiddenvlei.
The Tsauchab is approximately long, its
catchment area
A catchment area in human geography, is the area from which a location, such as a city, service or institution, attracts a population that uses its services and economic opportunities. Catchment areas may be defined based on from where people are ...
(including its tributary, the
Zebra River) is estimated to be between 4,000
and . Since it is in the
Namib Desert
The Namib ( ; ) is a coastal desert in Southern Africa. According to the broadest definition, the Namib stretches for more than along the Atlantic coasts of Angola, Namibia, and northwest South Africa, extending southward from the Carunjamba Ri ...
, the Tsauchab carries water only during the rare times when rain falls in the
Naukluft Mountains and runs off, since it cannot seep into the soil fast enough (see ''
flash flood
A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice and snow. Flash f ...
''). During these rains, the Tsauchab becomes a rapid-running, strong river within a matter of hours. As a result of the occasional rains, it has over the past two million years carved the
Sesriem Canyon, a long and up to deep canyon in
sedimentary rock
Sedimentary rocks are types of rock (geology), rock formed by the cementation (geology), cementation of sediments—i.e. particles made of minerals (geological detritus) or organic matter (biological detritus)—that have been accumulated or de ...
. Past the canyon, the Tsauchab flattens and grows broader, and is surrounded by a
riparian forest
A riparian forest or riparian woodland is a forested or wooded area of land adjacent to a body of water such as a river, stream, pond, lake, marshland, estuary, canal, Sink (geography), sink, or reservoir. Due to the broad nature of the definitio ...
as it slopes towards the
Sossusvlei salt pan. In the Sossusvlei area, the riparian forest consists of both the living trees including
Maerua crassifolia and the remaining skeletons of dead trees.
Sossusvlei, Sesriem Canyon and the high sand dunes between the two are some of
Namibia's major tourist attractions.
External links
Tsauchab River and Sossus Vlei Lakebed, Namibiaat the
NASA Earth Observatory
NASA Earth Observatory is an online publishing outlet for NASA which was created in 1999. It is the principal source of satellite imagery and other scientific information about the climate and the environment which are being provided by NASA for ...
website
References
{{reflist
Rivers of Namibia
Geography of Hardap Region
Namib-Naukluft National Park