When a thin sheet of water collects on salt deposits, the landscape is nothing short of a marvel. Paradise on earth, Salar de Uyuni, is the world’s largest salt flat and a result of several geological factors. Located in the Daniel Campos Province in Potosi, southwest Bolivia near the peak of the Andes (longest continental mountain range), Salar de Uyuni stretches to 10,582 sq. km at an altitude of 11,995 ft above sea level.
Enclosed
“Salar” signifies salt flat in Spanish and Uyuni means pen (enclosure) in the Aymara language (one of the official languages spoken in Bolivia); hence Salar de Uyuni literally means salt flat with enclosures.
It is part of a high plateau called “Altiplano” formed during the uplift of the Andes Mountains. This plateau consists of fresh and salt water lakes including salt flats bordered by mountains without drainage systems.
Geological history and formation of the Salar can be traced to the prehistoric era (30,000 to 42,000 years ago) where the region was part of a huge ancient lake — Lake Minchin. This lake later became the paleolake Tauca and is 460 feet deep. It is dated approximately from 13,000 to 18,000 or 14,900 to 26,100 years. The earliest prehistoric lake called Coipasa (11,500 to 13,400 years ago) dried and formed two new lakes, Poopo Lake and Uru Uru, along with two main salt deserts — Salar de Uyuni (the larger one) and Salar de Coipasa.
Mud and salt, saturated with brine (salt solution) marks the surface of Salar de Uyuni. The brine is a soaked solution of sodium chloride, lithium chloride and magnesium chloride in water. It is covered with flat salt crust varying in thickness. In the centre of the Salar are a few islands, which are the remains of the tops of ancient volcanoes submerged in the time of Lake Minchin. They consist of rare and delicate coral type formations that often consist of fossils and algae. This area has a steady average temperature of 21° Celsius. When dry, the salt plains are flat with dry salt and when it rains there is a thin strip of water visible.
Giant cacti is the only form of vegetation in Salar. Each year, November serves as a breeding ground for three kinds of pink South American Flamingo — the Chilean, Andean and rare James’ flamingo. There are 80 other types of birds including horned coot, Andean goose and Andean hillstar.
Know More:
> Salar de Uyuni is 100 times the size of Bonneville Salt Flats in the U.S.
> It holds approximately 10 billion tons of salt flat.
> Salar de Uyuni accounts for 50 to 70 per cent of the world’s lithium reserves; necessary for computer and phone batteries.
> It is a popular tourist destination and has hotels made of salt.
> Salar de Uyuni’s flat surface is used by NASA in regulating satellite orbits.
> It serves as a main transport route across Bolivian Altiplano.
