NamibRand Nature Reserve, by Antonio Vizcaíno

NamibRand Nature Reserve, by Antonio Vizcaíno. Publisher: America Natural. ISBN 9786074310115 / ISBN 978-607-431-011-5

From NamibRand Nature Reserve, by Antonio Vizcaíno, the following text is taken from Mary Seely's contribution "Pro-namib: a spectacular, outstanding spectacular synthesis of desert landscapes".

Antonio Vizcaíno  

Vast, scenic, golden panoramas stretching to the horizon constitute the first impression of the outstanding beauty of the Pro-Namib landscape. To the east, the Great Western Escarpment towers above undulating plains; to the west lay the dunes of the Namib Sand Sea. These rolling vistas vary from displaying occasional green grass cover after irregular rains to, more often, dry yellow grass or, over long dry periods, barren, stony plains of calcrete, a form of limestone developed in the soil under past, higher rainfall conditions. The Pro-Namib, just one commonly used designation for the region, represents an amalgam of its surrounding landscapes while constituting a unique habitat on its own. Situated between the southern Atlantic Ocean and the continental Great Western Escarpment lies an arid land unlike any other. Abutting the coast, and encompassed in a World Heritage Site, the Namib Sand Sea supports a unique biodiversity primarily dependent on fog water and taking advantage of the accessible subsurface habitat. Inland, below the escarpment, broad calcrete plains are subjected to occasional, erratic rainfall. These plains are dissected by anastomosing shallow water courses flowing westward to end in the Namib Sand Sea. Erupting from among the sand dunes as well as scattered across the plains, an array of inselbergs, or "island mountains," of different geological ages and origins contributes to the biological diversity of the area. Galcrete crusts cover the surface of much of the Pro-Namib, representing a previous moister period of in situ formation of calcrete and calcareous soil resulting from atmospheric precipitation of calcium carbonate in a dry environment, and in some areas constituting a karst-like formation with frequent shallow sinkholes indicated on the surface. Inselbergs stand proud of the plains, rising up to several hundred meters, and may be composed of igneous or metamorphic rocks. On the eastern border of the Pro-Namib, the deeply dissected escarpment exposes rocks dating to more than 600 million years ago, a major attraction for geologists and paleontologists, providing opportunities for studying Earth's history and the evolution of life on Earth back to some of the ear-liest known evidence. Of parallel historical interest, but of very different character, is the Tsondab Sandstone underlying the Namib Sand Sea bordering the west of the Pro-Namib. Fossil pans, ephemeral river sources, and a rich fossil record, encompassed in the brick red outcrops of a fossilized sand sea, date back at least 18 million years. Crossing the Pro-Namib from the escarpment toward the dunes, an array of ephemeral rivers flow, but only briefly after periods of heavy rainfall. These rarely flowing rivers, otherwise typically presenting as dried-up and dusty, are revealed by vegetation lining their banks. Originating in the escarpment, many anastomosing smaller to larger tributaries combine as they cross the Pro-Namib, ending next to or within the dunes of the Namib Sand Sea. Better known are the larger rivers, such as the Tsondab River, ending in Tsondabvlei, and the Tsauchab River, ending in Sossusvlei—probably the most popular tourist destination in the Namib landscape. Pro-Namib vegetation varies as rainfall decreases from the escarpment west to the sand sea. On the escarpment, plant species from the Nama Karoo shrubland, the escarpment itself, and the desert to the west intermingle. Sterculia, Boscia, and Moringa trees along with Elephant's foot, Lithops, Euphorbia, Aloe, and Hereroa plants are just some of the more than four hundred interesting species on the Naukluft and other parts of the escarpment. [...]

Dr. Mary Seely
Founder and former Executive Director of the Desert Research Foundation of Namibia

This is an excerpt from NamibRand Nature Reserve, by Antonio Vizcaíno.

Title: NamibRand Nature Reserve
Genre: Landscape book
Photography: Antonio Vizcaíno
Essays: Johann Albrecht (Albi) Brückner; Kristine McDivitt Tompkins; Vance G. Martin; Malan Lindeque; Ginger Mauney;
Mary Seely; Nils Odendaal; Stephan R. Brückner; Antonio Vizcaíno; Danica Shaw
Publisher: America Natural
ISBN 9786074310115 / ISBN 978-607-431-011-5
Cloth binding, dustjacket, 35 x 31 cm, 330 pages, throughout large colour photographs