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Some 220,000 years ago a blazing meteorite the
size of half a football pitch slammed into the
earth's crust, leaving a crater 100m deep and 1.1km
across.
This crater, formerly known as the Pretoria
Saltpan, is situated 40km northwest of Pretoria in
Gauteng. It is one of the best-preserved meteorite
impact craters anywhere in the world.
Today, Tswaing, meaning Place of Salt in
seTswana, is a 1,946-hectare conservation area. The
main features of Tswaing are the meteorite impact
crater, a wetland area, a variety of ecosystems and
the remains of a factory that produced soda ash and
salt.
Tswaing's natural and cultural heritage resources
include a variety of ecosystems and plant species,
game animals, a large number of bird species (about
240), smaller mammals (including otters, genets,
brown hyenas, civets and steenbok), reptiles
(including python, land and water monitor, tortoise
and terrapin), frogs, a river with a large wetland,
archaeological sites and the ruins of the soda mine
and factory.
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Strong emphasis is placed on the
protection and use of the area's natural and
cultural heritage for research,
environmental education, recreation and
community empowerment.
Among the 165 known terrestrial
meteorite impact craters in the world, the
Tswaing Crater is exceptional due to its
excellent state of conservation and because
there are very few small meteorite craters
left on earth.
Originally the crater was 200m
deep, and the 90m of sedimentary deposits
on the original crater floor contain an
unparalleled record of climate changes in
the Southern Hemisphere over the past
220,000 years.
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