Salar de Uyuni (or Salar de Tunupa) is the world's
largest salt flat at 10,582 square kilometers
(4,086 sq mi). It is located in the Potosí and Oruro departments in
southwest Bolivia, near the crest of the Andes and is at an
elevation of 3,656 meters (11,995 ft) above mean 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 altitude 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 lithium reserves, which is in the process of being extracted. The large
area, clear skies, and the 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 pink flamingos. Salar de Uyuni is also a climatological transitional
zone since the towering tropical cumulus congestus and cumulus 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.
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