Geomorphology, hydrology, and ecology of Lake Urema, central Mozambique, with focus on lake extent changes

Lake Urema is one of the most important ecological features of Gorongosa National Park, located in central Mozambique, in the East African Rift System. Understanding hydrology and ecology of the lake and its tributaries is particularly important for the conservation of the Park’s floodplain habitats and its biodiversity. There are concerns that hydrological boundary conditions and ecology of Lake Urema have changed in recent years. Possible causes for this change include climatic and land use changes as well as tectonic and geomorphological processes. In this study, a multi-temporal and multi-disciplinary approach was applied to investigate the dynamics and control mechanisms of Lake Urema. Principal methods comprised remote sensing analyses of time series of Landsat and ASTER data, geomorphological interpretations of a Digital Terrain Model (DTM) as well as field investigations such as analyses of water quality and sediment composition. The waters of Lake Urema have a low mineralization and pH values approximately neutral. The spatially dominant sediment type has a pure clay texture consisting of kaolinite and smectite. The sandy type consists of quartz, kali felspar, and plagioclase. The results of the supervised classifications for the satellite images from 1979 to 2000 showed that the lake’s extent ranged between 17 km 2 (09/1995) and 25 km 2 (08/1979). Above average rainfall was responsible for the extreme lake size in May 1997 (104 km 2). The interpretations of the Digital Terrain Model demonstrated that alluvial fans limit the Urema basin from all sides and make Lake Urema a form of “reservoir lake”. The control mechanisms of the hydrological regime of Lake Urema, such as the contribution of groundwater, are not yet fully understood. The lake’s condition during the rainy season was not investigated. In the future, investigations of the sources and amounts of sediment input into the lake should be conducted.