Evidence of a shallow lake at Tsodilo Hills, Borswana, 17 500 to 15 000 yr BP: Further confirmation of a widespread Late Pleistocene humid period in the Kalahari Desert

A shallow lake existed at Tsodilo Hills, Botswana, during the Late Pleistocene (17,500 to 15,000 years ago), contradicting the region's current arid conditions. Lacustrine carbonates with freshwater diatoms were deposited in two distinct phases, suggesting a deeper, more permanent water body around 17,500 years BP and a seasonally drying lake at 15,000 years BP, possibly influenced by windblown sand. The study confirms a widespread humid period in the Kalahari Desert during this time, likely due to increased summer precipitation from the southerly shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), coupled with lower temperatures and evaporation rates. Sedimentology and diatom assemblages were analyzed to reconstruct past environmental conditions.

Brook, G. A., Haberyan, K. A., & Filippis, S. (2025). Evidence of a shallow lake at Tsodilo Hills, Borswana, 17 500 to 15 000 yr BP: Further confirmation of a widespread Late Pleistocene humid period in the Kalahari Desert. Palaeoecology of Africa and the Surrounding Islands, Volume 23, 165–176. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003761006-11