What Is the Karoo Basin (Often Called the Botswana Basin)?

The Karoo Basin (also Karoo Supergroup) is a vast sedimentary basin covering much of South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, and Botswana. Formed Early–Middle Jurassic, it hosts:

• Economic coal seams
• Coal‑bed methane gas
• Extensive igneous intrusions (Karoo Large Igneous Province)

Volcanic features are not extinct; the basin is a key energy and paleontological resource.