Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia
by Anouchka Unel under Free Art License
Salar de Uyuni (or Salar de Tunupa), at 10,582 sq km (4085 sq miles) is the largest salt flat in the world. It is located in the Potosí and Oruro departments in southwest Bolivia, near the crest of the Andes, at a height of 3,650 meters. The major minerals found in the salar are halite and gypsum.
Salar de Uyuni is part of a Lake Minchin, a prehistoric lake that dried up 40,000 years ago. When Lake Minchin died up, it created two present-day lakes, Lake Poopó and Lake Uru Uru. Also formed were two salt flats - deserts of salt - the larger called Salar de Uyuni and the smaller called Salar de Coipasa. Salar de Uyuni is 25 times the size of the Bonneville Salt Flats in the United States.
Studies indicated that Salar de Uyuni contains an estimated 10 billion tons of salt. Salt is mined here, but only 25,000 tons is extracted annually. All miners working in the Salar belong to Colchani's cooperative. They labour from dawn to dusk with a break for lunch, in order to take advantage of the time. They chew coca leaves for energy. Every November, Salar de Uyuni becomes a breeding grounds for three species of South American flamingos: the Chilean, James's and Andean flamingos. It has become a growing tourist attraction, and has now included a salt hotel.
Salt piles at Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia
by Luca Galuzzi, www.galuzzi.it
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