Uyuni, Salar de

Uyuni, Salar de

(sälär` dā o͞oyo͞o`nē), salt flats (c.4,250 sq mi/11,000 sq km), Potosí dept., SW Bolivia, in the altiplanoaltiplano
, high plateau (alt. c.12,000 ft/3,660 m) in the Andes Mts., c.65,000 sq mi (168,350 sq km), W Bolivia, extending into S Peru. The altiplano is a sediment-filled depression between the Cordillera Oriental and the Cordillera Occidental.
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. The Río Grande de Lípez flows into the flats in the southeast, and brine can cover portions of the salt flats during the rainy season. Salt is mined, and the flats also contain sizable amounts of lithium. Tourism, including hotels made of salt, is the other main industry. The salt flats are a remnant of extinct Lake Minchin, which covered some 16,600 sq mi (43,000 sq km) during the Late Pleistocene. Salar de Uyuni is separated from the smaller Salar de Coipasa to the north by the Cordillera de Llica.

Uyuni, Salar De

 

a salt flat on an inner plateau of the Central Andes in Bolivia. Covering an area of approximately 10,000 sq km, the Salar de Uyuni is one of the largest salt flats in the world. It is situated at an elevation of approximately 3,700 m, to the south of the Altiplano, a desert plateau. It is covered with water during the summer rains.