May 8th, 2011 Category: Image of the day, Lakes, Salt Flats

Bolivia - May 1st, 2011

Lake Poopó is a large saline lake located in a shallow depression in the Altiplano Mountains in Bolivia. Here, sediments in the long, wide lake cause its waters to change in color from dark brown to the north to green to the south.

Two large, bright white salt flats can be seen south of the lake. The larger of the two, the Salar de Uyuni, is actually the world’s biggest salt flat at 10,582 square kilometers (4,086 sq mi).

The second is Lago Coipasa or Salar de Coipasa, 20 km north of Salar de Uyuni. Its surface area is 806 km². Its eastern shores are lightly tinged with blue.

Tags: Altiplano Bolivia Lake Poopó Salar de Coipasa Salar de Uyuni | Comments |

July 30th, 2010 Category: Lakes, Salt Flats

Bolivia - April 16th, 2010

The large white expanses in the center of this image are two salt flats in Bolivia: the Salar de Uyuni and the Salar de Coipasa. North of the former is the greenish Lake Poopó.

The Salar de Uyuni is the world’s largest salt flat, with a surface area of 10,582 km2 (4,085 square miles). It is situated at an elevation of 3,656 meters above mean sea level.  The white color is due to a few meters of very flat and reflective salt crust.

The Salar de Coipasa is smaller, with a surface area of 2.218 km². It is located slightly higher than its neighbor, at an elevation of 3657 m. The rocks surrounding it are mostly of volcanic origin.

Moving northeastward one comes to Lake Poopó, a large yet shallow, highly saline lake in Bolivia’s Altiplano Mountains. Upon opening the full image, the northern part of the lake is dark blue and the central part contains brown sediments, while whitish salt flats can be seen by the southern shores. The southern reaches of the lake actually have a high salt gradient due to dilution from the freshwater Desaguadero River in the north.

Tags: Bolivia Lake Poopó Salar de Coipasa Salar de Uyuni | Comments |

February 21st, 2010 Category: Salt Flats

Chile and Bolivia - February 12th, 2010

The Salar de Uyuni (larger) and the Salar de Coipasa (smaller) stand out as bright reflective white areas in the center of the upper half of this image. The salares, or salt flats, are located in Bolivia, close to the Chilean border.

To the south, in Chile, the Mejillones Peninsula protrudes into the Pacific from the otherwise generally smooth coastline. The Atacama Desert, the world’s driest desert, is visible to the east of the peninsula.

Tags: Atacama Desert Bolivia Chile Mejillones Peninsula Pacific Ocean Salar de Coipasa Salar de Uyuni South America | Comments |