The South America salt flats in
Bolivia are a natural wonder that are not only awe-inspiring, but also seem to
be the best place to play with perspective. With reflections that play tricks
on the eye and constant bright sunshine, Salar de Uyuni is a veritable
dreamland for the photographer with a sense of humor. Salar de Uyuni also
called Salar de Tunupa (can be translated from Spanish as ‘salt flat
enclosure’) is the world's largest salt flat at 10,582 square kilometers. Salar
de Uyuni is located in the Daniel Campos Province in Potosà in southwest
Bolivia, near the crest of the Andes and is at an elevation of 3,656 meters above
sea level.
The Salar was formed as a result
of transformations between several prehistoric lakes. It is covered by a few
meters of salt crust, which has an extraordinary flatness with the average
elevation variations within one meter over the entire area of the Salar. The
crust serves as a source of salt and covers a pool of brine, which is
exceptionally rich in lithium. It contains 50 to 70% of the world's known
lithium reserves, which is in the process of being extracted. The large area,
clear skies, and exceptional flatness of the surface make the Salar an ideal
object for calibrating the altimeters of Earth observation satellites. The
Salar serves as the major transport route across the Bolivian Altiplano and is
a major breeding ground for several species of flamingos. Salar de Uyuni is
also a climatological transitional zone since the towering tropical cumulus
congestus and cumulonimbus incus clouds that form in the eastern part of the
salt flat during the summer cannot permeate beyond its drier western edges,
near the Chilean border and the Atacama Desert. The Salar de Uyuni also holds
other associated records when flooded, it becomes the largest mirror in the
world, and it also holds the largest land reserves of lithium.
There are a lot of places on
Earth considered to be spectacular in a unique and mysterious fashion.
Bolivia’s popular salt flats or Salar de Uyuni definitely qualifies. One of the
most popular attractions in Salar de Uyuni is a cemetery for trains! It
contains all the trains that were used in mining during the 1940s and currently
attracts thousands of tourists every year. Moreover, at times the salt flat is
covered in very clear water, making it the largest natural mirror in the world,
an estimated 11 billion tons of salt is believed to be within Salar de Uyuni.
There are 80 species of birds (visiting and migrating) at Salar de Uyuni, including
three species of flamingos, as well as a few islands, where the main foliage is
cacti, as well as hot springs and geysers.. It was believed that Salar de Uyuni
was completely flat, but later some small undulations were discovered on the
surface. NASA uses Salar de Uyuni, since it is unmoving and easily spottable,
to figure the positioning of NASA’s satellite. To be honest strictly speaking
not a real lake, since almost completely dried up, the Salar de Uyuni is the
largest salt desert we can observe on Earth, surrounded by mountains, water
evaporation, leaving behind the heavy elements and salt residues. The Salar de
Uyuni simply is the largest land reserve of salt in the world, which has a
surprisingly high rate of lithium, the same metallic element that we're using
in our computer's lithium batteries. The salt desert actually represents by
itself, one-third of the known reserves of this element.
And when it's rainy season, and
the desert becomes a lake, the water salinity and the underlying layer allow
the light to be perfectly reflected, so as lake turns into the largest mirror
in the world. It is so flat and calm that it gives the best opportunity for the
calibration of satellite, 5 times more efficient compared to a conventional
waterbody (sea or another lake).
