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A geochemical investigation of the water and sediments of Barber's Pan, North West Province

Pans comprise a large proportion of southern African wetlands and yet remain poorly classified. Very little data is available on the aqueous chemistry of southern African saline systems, and with the exception of a few publications dealing, in part, with the soil and associated materials of pan floo...

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Main Author: Knesl, Oliver
Other Authors: Willis, James P
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Geological Sciences 2017
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access_status_str Open Access
author Knesl, Oliver
author2 Willis, James P
author_browse Knesl, Oliver
Willis, James P
author_facet Willis, James P
Knesl, Oliver
author_sort Knesl, Oliver
collection Thesis
description Pans comprise a large proportion of southern African wetlands and yet remain poorly classified. Very little data is available on the aqueous chemistry of southern African saline systems, and with the exception of a few publications dealing, in part, with the soil and associated materials of pan floors and margins, soil and sediment information on pans is similarly limited. Barber's Pan is a shallow, alkaline lake situated in the North West Province of South Africa. It is a unique system in several respects, but is considered most valuable from the aspect of bird conservation, since it is perennial in an area characterized by shallow, seasonally filled pans. Its perennial state is the consequence of anthropogenic intervention in the early part of this century which resulted in the diversion of the Harts River back along its fossil course. The biogeographical importance of Barber's Pan is emphasised by its designation as the only RAMSAR site in the North West Province. The overall objective of this study was to provide a geochemical characterization of Barber's Pan. This was approached by reviewing pertinent literature on the origin and geochemical characteristics of pans and saline lakes through an investigation of the water and sediments of Barber's Pan. The study focused on four aspects of the pan geochemistry, namely: the levels of certain nutrients and potential pollutants in the pan; gaining an understanding of the dynamics of phosphorus, as well as other nutrients, in the pan; geochemically characterizing the sediments; and investigating the impact of evaporative concentration of the pan water on the overall geochemistry of the system. Comparative investigations were carried out on the sediments of the Harts River diversion and Leeupan, a neighbouring, actively deflational, ephemeral pan.
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:33:40.116Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2017
publishDateRange 2017
publishDateSort 2017
publisher Department of Geological Sciences
publisherStr Department of Geological Sciences
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source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/23266 A geochemical investigation of the water and sediments of Barber's Pan, North West Province Knesl, Oliver Willis, James P Fey, Martin V Environmental Geochemisty Pans comprise a large proportion of southern African wetlands and yet remain poorly classified. Very little data is available on the aqueous chemistry of southern African saline systems, and with the exception of a few publications dealing, in part, with the soil and associated materials of pan floors and margins, soil and sediment information on pans is similarly limited. Barber's Pan is a shallow, alkaline lake situated in the North West Province of South Africa. It is a unique system in several respects, but is considered most valuable from the aspect of bird conservation, since it is perennial in an area characterized by shallow, seasonally filled pans. Its perennial state is the consequence of anthropogenic intervention in the early part of this century which resulted in the diversion of the Harts River back along its fossil course. The biogeographical importance of Barber's Pan is emphasised by its designation as the only RAMSAR site in the North West Province. The overall objective of this study was to provide a geochemical characterization of Barber's Pan. This was approached by reviewing pertinent literature on the origin and geochemical characteristics of pans and saline lakes through an investigation of the water and sediments of Barber's Pan. The study focused on four aspects of the pan geochemistry, namely: the levels of certain nutrients and potential pollutants in the pan; gaining an understanding of the dynamics of phosphorus, as well as other nutrients, in the pan; geochemically characterizing the sediments; and investigating the impact of evaporative concentration of the pan water on the overall geochemistry of the system. Comparative investigations were carried out on the sediments of the Harts River diversion and Leeupan, a neighbouring, actively deflational, ephemeral pan. 2017-01-26T07:48:21Z 2017-01-26T07:48:21Z 1996 2016-11-22T09:54:27Z Master Thesis Masters MSc http://hdl.handle.net/11427/23266 eng application/pdf Department of Geological Sciences Faculty of Science University of Cape Town
spellingShingle Environmental Geochemisty
Knesl, Oliver
A geochemical investigation of the water and sediments of Barber's Pan, North West Province
thesis_degree_str Master's
title A geochemical investigation of the water and sediments of Barber's Pan, North West Province
title_full A geochemical investigation of the water and sediments of Barber's Pan, North West Province
title_fullStr A geochemical investigation of the water and sediments of Barber's Pan, North West Province
title_full_unstemmed A geochemical investigation of the water and sediments of Barber's Pan, North West Province
title_short A geochemical investigation of the water and sediments of Barber's Pan, North West Province
title_sort geochemical investigation of the water and sediments of barber s pan north west province
topic Environmental Geochemisty
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/23266
work_keys_str_mv AT knesloliver ageochemicalinvestigationofthewaterandsedimentsofbarberspannorthwestprovince
AT knesloliver geochemicalinvestigationofthewaterandsedimentsofbarberspannorthwestprovince