Salar de Atacama

<3 - 50 mm / a

The Salar de Atacama (Spanish salt instead of Atacama ) is the largest active evaporite basin in northern Chile. The Salar is located in the Atacama Desert, in an undrained valley at the foot of the Andes, surrounded by numerous populated oases. It consists of a hard, rough, white layer of salt contaminated with desert sand. Beneath is a lithium-containing brine. Inflowing water comes out in sporadic pools which are important habitats.

  • 2.1 Mining
  • 2.2 Tourism

Geography

Location

The Salar de Atacama is part of the municipality of San Pedro de Atacama in the east of the Región de Antofagasta, close to the border with Bolivia. The region is part of the Atacama Desert, one of the driest and loneliest landscapes on earth. The Salar is located in the Valley of 15620 km2 large endorheic drainage basin. The valley is a tectonic trench. To the west of the Salar is bounded by the Cordillera Domeyko, to the east by the Andes, to the south by the Cordón de Lila and the north by the sedimentary deposits of the delta of the rivers Río San Pedro and Río Villama.

In the wider area of the Salar, there are hot springs, geysers and volcanoes. The best known volcano is the Licancabur with 5920 m height.

Description

With an area of ​​3051 km2, it is the largest salar in Chile. It consists of two units, a core and a peripheral zone. The core has a surface area of 1100 km2, extends up to 1.7 km deep and consists of 90% strength porous interspersed by sodium chloride brine. The Sole has a very high density of 1.238 kg / l and is rich in lithium, potassium, magnesium and boron Around the core lies the border zone. It consists of fine salty (mainly gypsum), clayey sediments.

Where the few water inflows reach the Salar are a series of oases that have been inhabited since prehistoric times. The precipitation rates in the Salar are extremely low. The annual rates for rain vary from less than 3 mm / yr to more than 50 mm / a The evaporation rates in the Salar also reach extreme values ​​, they vary from 1800 mm / yr up to 3200 mm / yr

Formation

The Salar is composed of clastic sediments and evaporites which has left a dry rocky Paläosee. Due to climate changes four times a lake occurred at this point in the last hundred thousand years. The oldest lake lay there 75700-60700 years ago, the last 6200-3500 years ago.

According to an estimate from 1996, the Salar reach 52 million cubic meters of water annually by aboveground and 90 million cubic meters by underground tributaries. Of these, 27 million cubic meters diverted for agricultural irrigation. In addition there are an average of 30 million cubic meters of rainfall over the Salar. 335,000 tons of salts are dissolved in water so annually registered in the Salar, in 270 tons of lithium and 5,300 tons of potassium. In the Salar evaporate 145 million cubic meters of water. The core of the Salar receives as 0.1 mm / yr of new salt sediments.

The major water inflows from the north bring two rivers. The Río San Pedro is a dry delta. The Río Villama seeps south of San Pedro and provides underground contributions to the body of water sporadically occurring there. From the eastern section of the Andes, there are contributions from groundwater and mountain streams of Jerez, Talabre, Camar, Peine, Tarajne and Tulan. Where the water comes to the surface, results in small ponds and shallow lakes that contain high salt concentrations, which can tolerate only a few higher organisms. This includes saltwater crabs, some copepods and some macrophytes. The water level of these lakes is 12.6 km2.

Laguna Chaxa is part of a nature reserve. Visitors are granted controlled access.

Laguna Chaxa is known for its flamingo colony. The springs are stained red by the diet of crabs.

Artemia franciscana Kellogg lives in the pools of the salar.

We distinguish the following wetlands:

  • Northern Salar: Laguna Baltinache (23 ° 2 ' S, 68 ° 14' W 23.028333333333 - 68.2283333333332300 )
  • Laguna Cejas (23 ° 3 ' S, 68 ° 13' W -23.055833333333-68.2166666666672300) ( lake: surface 3 ha, average depth 10 m)
  • Laguna Piedra (23 ° 4 ' S, 68 ° 13' W -23.063888888889-68.2152300) ( lake )
  • Laguna Tebinquiche (23 ° 8 ' S, 68 ° 15 ' W -23.136666666667-68.2583333333332300) ( One of the largest salt lakes in the Salar )
  • Ojos de Tebinquiche (23 ° 8 ' S, 68 ° 14' W - 23.1375 - 68.2352777777782300 )
  • Laguna Toce
  • Lagunas Gemela Este and Oeste Gemela ( In the Tebenquiche level surface <1 km2, maximum depth of 7 meters, the distance between the two 100 m)
  • Eastern Salar: Sector Soncor (61 km south of San Pedro. Surface of the protected area 50.16 km2. Three permanent lakes and a canal ) Laguna Puilar (23 ° 18 ' S, 68 ° 9' W 23,305 - 68.1458333333332300 )
  • Laguna Chaxa (23 ° 17 ' S, 68 ° 11' W -23.288333333333-68.1775) ( 13 km2 surface, the most important water body in the Salar. Salinity ( TDS value ) 86g / l, pH 7.6 )
  • Estación Chaxa, Puente San Luis (23 ° 20 ' S, 68 ° 10' W -23.328333333333-68.16752300) ( Visitors zone of Laguna Chaxa )
  • Laguna Barros Negros (23 ° 21 ' S, 68 ° 9' W 23.358333333333 - 68.1566666666672300 )
  • Channel or Río Muerto Burro ( Comes from the river delta that connects Laguna Puilar and Laguna Chaxa and empties into Laguna Barros Negros )
  • Laguna Burro Muerto (23 ° 28 ' S, 68 ° 6' W -23.466666666667-68.12300) ( collection of small ponds shallow depths, characterized by seasonally varying flooding)
  • Southern Salar: Sector Aguas de Peine ( three permanent lakes) Laguna Salada (23 ° 41 ' S, 68 ° 8' W 23,685 - 68.1388888888892300 )
  • Laguna Saladita (23 ° 41 ' S, 68 ° 9' W 23.676666666667 - 68.1466666666672300 )
  • Laguna Interna ( 23 ° 40 ' S, 68 ° 9' W 23.670833333333 - 68.1527777777782300 )
  • Laguna ( no name ) (23 ° 40 ' S, 68 ° 9' W - 23.66 - 68.1583333333332300 )
  • Laguna La Punta ( 23 ° 43 ' S, 68 ° 14' W 23.722222222222 - 68.23752300 )
  • Laguna Brava (23 ° 44 ' S, 68 ° 15' W 23.729166666667 - 68.252300 )

Economy

The Salar de Atacama is used for non-metal mining and tourism.

Mining

The Salar is home to about 27 % of the world's lithium reserves, as well as borax and potassium salts. To obtain water is pumped up with the dissolved salts and passed into shallow pools, where it evaporates. Potassium chloride and potassium sulfate precipitate, the lithium and boron remain dissolved during the supernatant. This brine is pumped to further processing by pipelines.

Due to the high water consumption for the production of metals and salts, the water level has already dropped in the central lagoon, which will eventually lead to there nesting flamingos a problem.

Since 1996 is obtained from the Salar de Atacama lithium chloride solution as a byproduct of potash mining. There are currently three major works in the Salar are decorated in which potassium chloride, potassium sulfate, boric acid and lithium - brine are recovered. The lithium chloride is placed in a plant in the Salar del Carmen at Antofagasta and for processing into lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide. 2012, by SQM Salar S. A. 45700 tonnes of lithium (calculated as lithium carbonate ) under the value of $ 222,200,000. This corresponded to 35% of the same year globally traded lithium. The rights to the exploitation of the raw materials are regularly the subject of intense legal and political disputes.

Tourism

The Salar de Atacama is one of the main attractions in the region. 70,000 tourists come each year to the Salar.

The east of the salar is part of a small part of the National Reserve Los flamenco. It is named after the great reserve Flamingo stocks. In these wetlands of the Salar live next to the flamingos many other birds, such as rheas, geese and ducks. In the east adjacent to the Salar areas llamas, guanacos, vicuna and alpaca are found in greater numbers.

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Documents

  • Lake in South America
  • Lake in Chile
  • Salt pan
  • Geography (Chile)
  • San Pedro de Atacama
Biotope Graben Brine shrimp Los Flamencos National Reserve Greater Rhea Digital Object Identifier
702564
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