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Namib Desert’s northwest (#11 in series: “castles”)

 

 

The Hoarusib is one of several ephemeral Namibian desert rivers that have generated  so-called “sand castles”, or “clay castles”.

These extraordinary landforms’ origins and age are shrouded in mystery, speculation, and competing theories.

I am quite unable to offer a definitive explanation, other than to quote some good sense from Roger Swart:

…there is abundant evidence that the silts were deposited by high-energy flows, separated by times of calm……The most likely explanation for the deposits is therefore flash floods during a wet period, which would have brought down a heavy sediment load that was dumped when the energy of the river waned.

The quotation is from Landshapes: The Geomorphology of Namibia.

Originally published in 2009, then reprinted in 2018, the book is a fine combination of geologist Dr Swart’s readily-intelligible text, with beautiful watercolour illustrations by Christine Marais (1935 – 2012).

You are unlikely to find a copy in any Australian bookshop, but it is still available, online; this is a Namibian source.

 

“Castles” and the only other vehicle anywhere near them at 10. 59 am, 22 November 2022, Hoarusib River valley, Namib Desert’s northwest. Photos ©️ Doug Spencer.

 

Estimates of the age of these “castles” vary hugely, from several hundred to many thousands of years.

The next post will give you a closer view of them.

Published in Americas and Eurasia and Africa nature and travel photographs