Salar de Uyuni
No, it’s not a Photoshop trick! If you
have been following us closely, then
you may recall us mentioning Salar de
Uyuni (or Salar de Tunupa) in our list
of 41 Places To See Before You Die .
Salar de Uyuni ( salar is salt flat in
Spanish) is currently the world’s
largest salt flat at 10,582 square
kilometers (4,086 sq mi). Actually,
some 30,000–42,000 years ago, the
area was part of a giant prehistoric
lake, Lake Minchin. When it dried, it
left behind two modern lakes and two
major salt deserts, Salar de Coipasa
and the larger Salar de Uyuni.
Located in southwest Bolivia, near the
crest of the Andes, 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 large area, clear skies and
exceptional surface flatness make the
Salar an ideal object for calibrating
the altimeters of Earth observation
satellites.
When covered with water, this
extraordinary place becomes one of
the largest mirrors on Earth.
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