The Largest Salt Desert in The World – Salar de Uyuni

Salar de Uyuni (or Salar de Tunupa) is the largest salt desert in the world. Salar de Uyuni Altiplano of Bolivia is part of South America. The Altiplano is a plateau that was formed while raising the Andes mountains. Plateau include salt and fresh water lakes and salt flats and is surrounded by mountains.

Salar de Uyuni was formed as a result of changes between several prehistoric lakes. It is covered with several feet of salt crust, which is extraordinary flatness with altitude variations within one meter over the entire surface of the Salar. Shell serves as a source of salt and cover a pool of brine, which is exceptionally rich in lithium. It contains 50-70% of world reserves of lithium, which is in the process of being extracted.

Large area with clear skies and exceptional surface flatness are ideal for calibration Salar altimeter object from Earth observation satellites. Below the surface of a lake Salar brine is 2-20 meters (7-66 ft) deep. Brine is a saturated solution of table salt, lithium chloride and magnesium chloride in water. It is covered with a solid salt crust with a thickness ranging from tens of centimeters to several meters. Salar Center contains several “islands” which are old volcanoes remaining peaks, which were submerged in the lake Minchin era. These include fragile corals, such as unusual structures and deposits which often consists of fossils and algae. Bolivia has about half the global reserves of lithium, most of them are located in the Salar de Uyuni. Lithium is concentrated in the crust of salt brine at a relatively high concentration of 0.3%.