Kunene River Research Articles

Ultra-long distance littoral transport of Orange sand and provenance of the Skeleton Coast Erg (Namibia)

Abstract Quantitative provenance analysis based on high-resolution bulk-petrography and heavy-mineral data on beach and dune sands, integrated with detrital-zircon geochronology and chemical analyses of pyroxene, garnet and staurolite, demonstrates that sand derived from the Orange River is carried by powerful and persistent longshore currents as far as northern Namibia and southern Angola, 1750 km north of its mouth. This is the longest cell of littoral sand transport documented so far. Compositional forward modeling indicates that ≥ 80% of dune sand in the Skeleton Coast is Orange-derived, the remaining ≤ 20% being supplied by slow erosion of the Damara Orogen chiefly via the Swakop River. A decrease in basaltic rock fragments and pyroxene with relative enrichment in garnet, staurolite, tourmaline and other metamorphic minerals north of Walvis Bay indicates that only one-third of beach sand in the 350 km dune-free gap between the Namib and Skeleton Coast Ergs is Orange-derived, the remaining two-thirds being supplied largely by the Swakop River draining the Damara Orogen. Although volcanic gravel becomes dominant in beaches of the Skeleton Coast north of the Uniab mouth, detritus from Cretaceous Etendeka lavas accounts for only 4% of beach sand, reflecting limited sand generation in the arid catchment. Contributions from the Kunene River to either dune or beach sands is ruled out, indicating that gem diamonds found in placer deposits along the coast of Namibia are all derived from the Orange River.

Theorising complex water governance in Africa: the case of the proposed Epupa Dam on the Kunene River

Various multi-dimensional governance models have been suggested by scholars and policy makers alike as suitable conceptual lenses through which to view the complexity of water governance, particularly in international river basins. While these models, most notably, the Government–Society–Science and the Hegemonic Politicians models, do provide more holistic pictures of the multiple actors at play and their interactions, the nature of these actor interactions is overly linear, and make them incapable of explaining the numerous processes within complex governance systems. They assume the dominance of a limited number of actors while ignoring various feedback loops. This paper therefore provides a critical review of the Government–Society–Science and the Hegemonic Politicians models. Our alternative perspective is derived from complexity theory as it pertains to water governance. Explaining water governance through the complexity lens highlights the myriad of actors that act within international river basins and the consequences of their actions; something that is lacking within the traditional models. This holds implications not only for decision-making in river basins and water resources management in particular, but also for theoretical developments that feed back into the policy arena. Complexity theory paints a more nuanced picture for the decision maker. We put forward this view using the proposed Epupa Dam on the Kunene River as a case study where various actors interact in the debate around the suggested dam.

New species and new collection records of aquatic beetles in the genus Ochthebius Leach from southern Africa (Coleoptera: Hydraenidae)

The southern African species of the water beetle genus Ochthebius Leach, 1815, are reviewed. Eight new species are described, and new collection records are given for eight previously described species, based on the examination and databasing of 8,919 specimens from 253 localities/events. Male genitalia of the new species are illustrated, and high resolution habitus images of the holotypes of new species are provided. Distribution maps are given for the 18 species of Ochthebius now known from southern Africa, including Namibia, South Africa, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, the extreme southern part of Angola, and the southern part of Mozambique. New species of Ochthebius are: O. anchorus (South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal Province, Oribi Gorge); O. bicomicus (South Africa, Western Cape Province, 22 mi. N. Nelspoort); O. bupunctus (Namibia, Kaokoveld, Kunene River, Swartbooisdrift); O. endroedyi (South Africa, North West Province, Barberspan); O. granulinus (South Africa, Western Cape Province, Elandsdrift); O. involatus (South Africa, Western Cape Province, near Kommetje); O. sitiensis (Namibia, Okau Fountain, 12.5 km inland); and O. zulu (South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal Province, Nqutu).

Abrus kaokoensis (Leguminosae-Papilionoideae-Abreae), a new species from Namibia

Abrus kaokoensis Swanepoel & H.Kolberg, a woody subshrub, is described as a new species. It is only known from the vicinity of the Kunene River and the Baynes Mountains in the Kaokoveld Centre of Endemism, Namibia. Its range is likely to extend into the botanically poorly explored adjacent mountainous parts of southwestern Angola. Illustrations of the species and a distribution map are provided. Probably most closely related to A. schimperi Baker, diagnostic characters of the new species include a suffrutescent habit and terminal elongated racemes with flowers clustered on appressed cushion-like reduced branchlets. A comparative table with diagnostic morphological characters to distinguish between the new species and A. schimperi is provided.

SHRIMP zircon dating and Nd isotopic systematics of Palaeoproterozoic migmatitic orthogneisses in the Epupa Metamorphic Complex of northwestern Namibia

The Epupa Metamorphic Complex constitutes the southwestern margin of the Congo Craton and is exposed in a hilly to mountainous terrain of northwestern Namibia, bordering the Kunene River and extending into southern Angola. It consists predominantly of granitoid gneisses which are migmatized over large areas. This migmatization locally led to anatexis and produced crustal-melt granites such as the Otjitanda Granite. We have undertaken reconnaissance geochemical studies and single zircon U–Pb SHRIMP and Pb–Pb evaporation dating of rocks of the Epupa Complex. The granitoid gneisses, migmatites and anatectic melts are similar in composition and constitute a suite of metaluminous to peraluminous, calc-alkaline granitoids, predominantly with volcanic arc geochemical signatures. The zircon protolith ages for the orthogneisses range from 1861 ± 3 to 1758 ± 3 Ma. Anatexis in the migmatitic Epupa gneisses was dated from a melt patch at 1762 ± 4 Ma, and the anatectic Otjitanda Granite has a zircon age of 1757 ± 4 Ma. Migmatization and anatexis therefore occurred almost immediately after granitoid emplacement and date a widespread high-temperature Palaeoproterozoic event at ∼1760 Ma which has not been recorded elswhere in northern Namibia. The Nd isotopic systematics of all dated samples are surprisingly similar and suggest formation of the protolith from a source region that probably separated from the depleted mantle about 2.4–2.0 Ga ago. A major Archaean component in the source area is unlikely. Structural reworking of the Epupa gneisses during the transpressional Neoproterozoic to early Palaeozoic Kaoko orogeny led to partial or complete obliteration of the older structures and resulted in spectacular low- to high-grade shear and mylonite zones. This reworking did not affect the U–Pb isotopic system in the zircons but documents partial destruction of the Congo cratonic margin. The Epupa granitoid rocks formed during an event generally referred to in Africa as the Eburnian orogeny, but the nature and tectonic setting of the Congo craton of southwestern Africa during this time remain largely unknown.

Borders and identities/border identities: The Angola‐Namibia border and the plurivocality of the Kwanyama identity

This article addresses the case of the African border between Angola and Namibia focusing on its linear part between the Kunene River, in the West, and the Okavango River, in the East. An area inhabited by the Kwanyama people. Drawing on both the Angola‐Namibia border's symbolic meanings and its effects on the Kwanyama people's everyday life, we propose the idea of borders as social practice and discourse. We attempt to investigate the Angola‐ Namibia border both as ‘institution’ and ‘process,’ reflecting not only on the macro‐perspective of the ‘big discourses’ that the State construction is based on, taking into consideration borders as institution and juridical and territorial limits of State power. We also focus attention, through a sort of ‘squint,’ on the micro‐perspective of ‘small discourses’ that narrate the day‐to‐day experience of border communities who live regional transformations due to the border presence. To put it differently, we focus on the need to ‘humanize’ the borderlands. Within this framework of reflection, the article looks at the territorial and human consequences of the Angola‐Namibia border on the Kwanyama people, considering how a new borderland has taken and is currently taking shape. In particular, we discuss the discursive construction of identity and the role of border discourses in this process. In so doing, we deal with two discourses that express the Kwanyama identity along and across the border: one constructed by traditional authorities and the other by ‘common’ people who live in the many villages divided by the border.

IWRM concept for the Cuvelai Basin in northern Namibia

This paper presents main findings of a feasibility study for a joint transdisciplinary project to strengthen the implementation of integrated water resources management (IWRM) in the Cuvelai Basin, northern Namibia. The region is characterised by seasonal alterations of droughts and heavy rainfall, mostly saline groundwater and a lack of permanent rivers. Difficult local conditions pose a great challenge for water supply against the background of high population density. Currently, most drinking water of the area is withdrawn from the Kunene River at the Angolan border and transported through a canal and pipeline scheme. However, it is expected that this infrastructure will be put at risk due to increasing water demand on both the Namibian and Angolan side. By integrating social-ecological as well as technical aspects IWRM may be instrumental in mitigating these problems. The aim to identify alternative water sources and create a multi-resource mix will be approached by strengthening the use of endogenous resources alongside with demand-oriented water and land management. Technologies considered have to be adapted to the local situation, not only concerning technological constraints but also concerning social and ecological factors. Furthermore, the implementation of technology must be integrated into the institutional and administrative processes of resource management as well as into the social, economic and ecological conditions of water use. Taking these conditions into account, actions and measures require clear and efficient organisation, implementation and participatory structures. They also call for a combined approach from natural, engineering and social sciences leading to a transdisciplinary research and development process. This paper aims to identify the design and conceptualisation of an IWRM which is adapted to the specific regional conditions.

On the post-structuralist critique of development: a view from north-west Namibia

The Namibian government's long-standing plan to dam the Kunene River has generated heated discussion on a number of development issues, both within and outside the country. This article examines the discourses of the various groupings in the so-called Epupa debate by paying special attention to the ways they represent ‘development’, the project and the affected community; and it explores aspects of agency by focusing on Himba people's attempts to assert opposition to the project. The Epupa case also affords us the opportunity to evaluate aspects of the post-structuralist critique of development. The article suggests that the currently fashionable critique offers a simplistic interpretation of the development process and reveals the need for a more thorough (and insightful) scholarly engagement with development. 1Assistant Professor of Socio-cultural Anthropology, Department of Social Science, Roosevelt Academy, Utrecht University. Based on research carried out in Windhoek, Namibia, in 1999, this paper is a revised version of a dissertation submitted to the University of Cambridge in partial fulfilment of the MPhil degree in Social Anthropology (Friedman, 1999). The author would like to thank Leo Howe, Keith Hart, Alan Macfarlane, Fatima Müller-Friedman and two anonymous reviewers for their encouragement and/or critical readings of earlier drafts; and the English Speaking Union of San Francisco, Darwin College, Sir Bartle Frere's Memorial Fund, and the Rivers Video Project for generous financial assistance that made the research possible.

The Himba and the dam.

The Namibian government has proposed the building of a hydroelectric dam on the Kunene River near the Epupa falls which could affect the lives of indigenous peoples surrounding the area. One of these groups of people is the Himba tribe one of the last tribes of traditional people who are generally self-supporting and fully or partially isolated from global society. 140 sq. miles of settlements grazing land and grave sites home to 16000 people will be flooded if the Namibian government pushes through with the plan. It is noted that the dam would destroy the Himbas livelihood as well as generate social change among the tribesmen. In a survey conducted by the World Commission on Dams it was found that 68 of the 123 dams worldwide they studied would displace people many of them in tribes that had little prior contact with the technological world. The Commission concluded that nearly all dams will negatively or positively change local peoples’ livelihoods and culture. To this effect several opposition groups have been created including Himba leaders foreign and local environmental groups.

Holocene climatic optimum in Southwest Africa—evidence from the marine clay mineral record

Sediment composition, grain size and clay mineral record of a high-resolution sediment core from the continental slope off Namibia was investigated to gain information on the deposition of terrigenous matter in this part of the Southwest African continental margin during the last 18 k.y. The depositional processes involved are fluvial input by the Kunene River and eolian input from the Namib and Kalahari deserts, each supplying characteristic mineral suites. During low sea level, erosion of the exposed shelf yields additional material. The amount of eolian or fluvial matter depends on the strength of the transport process, which is a function of aridity or humidity of the source area, thus allowing paleoclimatic interpretations. Arid conditions prevailed during a low sea level from 18 to 15 ka and unconsolidated shelf sediment was mobilized and supplied to the slope by short-distance transport by southerly winds. A dramatic increase in the accumulation of terrigenous sediment is recorded from 15 to 10 ka without major changes in sediment composition, which is attributed to increased runoff of the Kunene River and fluvial erosion of shelf sediments. This period coincides with a strengthening of the monsoonal system during a precessional minimum, which is observed in numerous sites in Central Africa and indicates an intensified influence of the monsoon at the Kunene headwaters. A distinct shift in clay mineralogy towards river-derived material marks a second period of increased river runoff—during high sea level—from 9 to 5 ka, indicating maximum humidity in the source area from 6 to 5 ka. This corresponds to the Holocene climatic optimum observed in the arid belts of Northern Africa. The present balance between fluvial and eolian input was reached approximately at 4 ka.

Mineralogy and geochemistry of the clay fraction of sediments from the Namibian continental margin and the adjacent hinterland

The continental shelf off Namibia can be divided into two sectors at latitude 18°40′S based on the distinctive morphologies of the two regions, and on differences in composition of their surficial sediments. The Kunene Shelf is narrow, shallow and covered mainly by terrigenous sediment whereas the Walvis Shelf is wide, deep and supports predominantly biogenic sediment. The Walvis Shelf also possesses a number of distinguishing features. Its outer region has a concave profile, which is attributed to upbuilding of the inner shelf during periods of lowered sea level. Its inner region is covered by an extensive belt of diatomaceous mud parallel to the coast. The seaward and landward flanks of this deposit differ in lithology due mainly to the advanced state of dissolution of opal in deep water, and to the influx of aeolian terrigenous detritus, especially illite, close to shore. Long belts of terrigenous mud extend southwards from both the Kunene and Orange Rivers. The currents responsible for transporting this sediment are poleward-directed tongues of the Angola-Benguela Front in the north, and mixed, poleward-moving South Atlantic Central Water in the south. The Kunene River carries more smectite to the sea than the much larger Orange. The distribution of clay minerals on the continental shelf follows that of the adjacent hinterland, with smectite, and to a lesser extent kaolinite, being significant in the north, and illite predominating in the south. Along the upper slope, the concentrations of smectite and kaolinite increase due to their importation from the Kunene River by poleward-directed Antarctic Intermediate Water. The geochemical character of riverine clays reflects the rock types exposed in each of the drainage basins. Compared with marine sediments, these clays are enriched in eight of the fourteen elements investigated, namely Al, Fe, Mg, Co, Mn, Pb, Rb and Zn. In contrast, the offshore element-distribution patterns show little resemblance to the patterns of individual drainage basins. Clays in the marine sediments are enriched, relative to the river sediments, in Ca, K, Cd, Ni and Sr. Five lithofacies recognized in the unconsolidated marine sediments are based on the relative proportions of opal, calcium carbonate, phosphorite, glauconite and terrigenous components. Average element concentrations of individual lithofacies are enriched, relative to the river clays, in Cd (diatomaceous facies); Ca, Cd, Ni and Sr (calcareous and facies); K and Ni, slightly, (glauconitic facies); Cd and Sr (terrigenous facies). Regionally, the clay fractions of unconsolidated marine sediments contain high concentrations of Al, Fe, Mg, K, Mn and Rb on the Kunene Margin due to aluminosilicates being imported by the Kunene River; Ca and Sr reach high values on the Walvis Outer Margin in response to upwelling along the coast; maximum concentrations of Cd are associated with diatomaceous mud on the Walvis Inner Shelf; Cu, Ni and Zn reach high levels at a few “spot locations” where organic matter (M org) has suffered little dilution from other components, especially opal; and Pb is concentrated with glauconitic sediment on the Kunene Shelf. Semi-consolidated sediments are exposed intermittently on the outer margin. They provide evidence that the palaeoclimate became much drier in post-Miocene times, but in the north this picture is complicated by the introduction of sediment from the Kunene River during the Late Tertiary. Palaeo-oceanographic evidence suggests that the northern part of the study area experienced a concomitant decrease in productivity while in the southern part productivity increased.

The distribution of Recent Radiolaria in surficial sediments of the continental margin off northern Namibia

Abstract. 47 Species of radiolaria have been identified from 30 surface sediment samples collected along transects across the continental margin of northern Namibia between the Kunene River and Walvis Bay. From the distribution patterns of the 24 most abundant species, it was possible to identify a warm water, high salinity population and a cold water, low salinity population. The distribution patterns of each population shows a close correspondence with the known positions of the Angola Current (warm, high salinity water) and the Benguela Current (cold, low salinity water) respectively. Two other trends are apparent from the overall radiolaria distribution; dilution of the nearshore samples by terrigeneous input and a strong preference for open ocean conditions. There is no apparent correlation with upwelling.

Quaternary sedimentation and paleoenvironmental studies off Namibia (South-West Africa)

An examination of sediment from piston cores and 3.5-kHz seismic reflection profiles from the northern Cape Basin and southern Angola Basin reveal a contrasting history of depositional processes in these adjacent basins. Pleistocene sedimentation in the southern Angola Basin was characterized by extensive deposition of turbidites and hemipelagic sediments derived primarily from the discharge of the Kunene River. Slumping of sediments and highly mobile debris flows have also contributed in the basinward transport of sediments in this region. In contrast, the northern Cape Basin can be characterized as a “starved” basin. Because of the low coastal rainfall and extremely low level of river discharge, the marine sediments along this margin are essentially pelagic in origin. Slumps and slides have disrupted portions of the continental margin but the morphology of the slope is very smooth in contrast to the margin north of the Walvis Ridge where canyon cutting has played a major role. The low sedimentation rates in the northern Cape Basin in conjunction with a moderate to strong bottom-water circulation has resulted in an extensive erosional zone along the lower continental rise off southwest Africa. The effects of a changing climate (interglacial—glacial) on marine productivity and sedimentation are documented by the faunal and isotopic record in a piston core on the continental rise south of the Walvis Ridge.

The Contract Labour System and the Ovambo Crisis of 1971 in South West Africa

The Ovambo form the biggest population group in South West Africa: at the 1960 census they numbered 239, 363, or 45 per cent of the total population of all races, and in 1966, 270, 900, or 44 per cent of the total (South Africa 1967, p. 18). By 1971 their numbers had increased to 342,000, or 45 per cent of the population (South Africa 1971, introduction). The Ovambo people have been settled within the area now known as Ovamboland, or Owambo, for about four centuries. The territory is bordered by the Kunene River and Angola in the North, the Kaokoveld in the West, and Kavango in the East (see Map 1). It is isolated from the southern and western parts of South West Africa by vast tracts of uninhabited land. This comparative isolation has protected the Ovambo people from interference and attack by other tribes; on the other hand, it has made communication and trade with the most developed part of South West Africa difficult and expensive and has, therefore, tended to inhibit the economic development of the territory. There are seven Ovambo tribes: the Ndonga, the Kuanyama (“the meat eaters”), the Ngandjena, the Kuambi (“those who work with clay”), the Kualuthi, the Mbalantu, and the Nkolonkati-Eunda. These tribes are linked by broad ties of kinship and by the fact that their languages are, for the most part, interintelligible. These factors, and the territorial isolation of the Ovambo people, have combined to create in them a strong sense of solidarity.

The Chronology of the Ovimbundu Kingdoms

The tradition of Ngalangi sets out to relate the beginning. It was Feti who began: whence he came is not known. Seeing that he had no companion, but only a dog, he was hunting, and he went to a certain lagoon of the Kunene River and there he caught his wives as they came up out of the reeds. His wives were Tembo and Cĩvi and Coya. Thus they say, Feti wa fetika Coya woyapo, i.e. ‘Feti began, Coya completed.’ Feti and his eldest son, Ngalangi, were hunters of elephants and roan antelopes, and they continued in that wandering life. The kingdom of Ngalangi was founded by Ndumba Visoso, probably a son of Ngalangi, who assaulted and took the town from the ‘va Ngangela’, renamed it Ngalangi and there established the new kingdom. Ngola Ciluanji, another son of Feti, went, it is said, first to Wambu and later to ‘Luanda’ (meaning probably Ngola or Ndongo), establishing in turn these two kingdoms. After Feti's death his wives married: Tembo in Humbi (or Cilengi), Coya in Ndulu and Civi in Ngalangi, thus becoming the mothers of many peoples.

The Kunene River and the Etosha Plain

The Kunene River and the Etosha Plain

The Kunene River

The Kunene River

Notes on the Kunene River, Southern Angola

Notes on the Kunene River, Southern Angola