NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat data from the U.S. Though the surface looks perfectly flat, it has just enough of a grade in certain areas that scientists consider it to be one of the best places in the world for calibrating satellite altimeters, instruments designed to measure the elevation of land surfaces. In addition to tourists and lithium miners, Salar de Uyuni attracts Earth scientists. Also, Uyuni’s brine has unusually high concentrations of magnesium and potassium that has to be removed, which makes the process more expensive. Relatively rainy and cool weather means it takes longer for brine to evaporate there than at other lithium mining operations in the region. There are some big challenges associated with harvesting Salar de Uyuni’s lithium. The lithium and other minerals are eventually transported and processed at a facility in nearby Rio Grande. Brine usually remains in the pools for about six months. One there, sunshine and wind separate out lithium, salt, and other substances through evaporation. Despite enduring the frigid wind chill at 15,000. Wells tap into lithium-rich brine beneath the surface and shunt it toward rectangular evaporation pools with plastic liners. Bolivias alpine salt flats of the Salar de Uyuni form one of the harshest livable climates on planet Earth. The image below is a zoomed-out version of the more recent image. Nearly six years later, the size of the facility had grown significantly. The Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8 acquired the first image above on April 12, 2013. Landsat satellites began to detect evidence of buildings and evaporation ponds in the southern end of the salt flat in 2011. The government began investing in a lithium mining operation at Salar de Uyuni about a decade ago. Yet with global demand for lithium rising, Bolivian leaders are trying hard to change this. Unlike the neighboring countries of Chile and Argentina, Bolivia has not been among the world’s top lithium producers. Geological Survey estimates that Bolivia holds about 15 percent of the world’s lithium.Īnd yet just a small fraction of it gets mined and used. Meanwhile, geologists think the mineral-rich, blue-green brine beneath the salt crust contains the world’s second-largest deposit of lithium, a valuable metal used to make rechargeable batteries. Salar de Uyuni is one of the driest places on earth, and its stark landscape sees a vibrant blue skyline frame the sparkling white earth below, which is made entirely of salt. The spectacularly flat surface and mirror-like qualities during the wet season have turned Salar de Uyuni into a big draw for tourists and, periodically, racing enthusiasts. Covering more than 10,000 square kilometers, it is the largest salt pan in the world. When it eventually dried up, the salt-encrusted landscape of Salar de Uyuni remained. Forty thousand years ago, a large lake spread across southwestern Bolivia.
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