It is surrounded by mountains and has no drainage outlets. In the east it is enclosed by the main chain of the andes, while to the west lies a secondary mountain range of the. The salt flat has a surface area of 750,000 acres 300,000 km2, which can be appreciated in its entirety thanks to the clarity of the air. Its top highlights include a number of shallow, saline lagoons that dot the area and which are home to a surprising amount of wildlife visitable by tour or rental car, these lagoons include laguna chaxa. Files are available under licenses specified on their description page. Interdependencies of lithium mining and communities. Closed basin brine evolution and the influence of cacl. For future study, the interdependency model could be applied to other limining sites and communities in the lithium triangle, which share similar geography, demographics, history, and culture. It features a significant archeological museum, the r. All structured data from the file and property namespaces is available under the creative commons cc0 license. We are located in the first settlement where the atacama people emerged, with privileged clear night skies and a noise and light free experience.
However, the area within this salt lake in which the li concentration is over mg l. Climatic features in the salar area are 35 c in summer and 5 c in. Gustavo le paige archaeological museum, with a large collection of relics and artifacts from the region. The basin has been partially covered by volcanic ash and other volcanic material on its northern and southern margins, a feature frequently associated with globally significant lithium brine deposits. Atacama salt flat is the biggest salt deposit in chile. First, it has an exceptionally high li concentration, even compared to other closed basins in the li triangle of south america. It is located east of antofagasta, some 106 km 60 mi southeast of calama and the chuquicamata copper mine, overlooking the licancabur volcano. Diagrams showing the relationship between lithology, as indicated by 87 sr 86 sr. The proximity of the project to existing producers strongly suggests that exploration potential is good for the discovery of brines in the northern portion. Large volcanoes dominate the landscape, including the licancabur, acamarachi. New and past geochemical data on fresh to brine waters of the.
Information on the geochemistry of this system can be found in risacher et al. Parts of the atacama desert have gone without rain for as long as people have been keeping track, but water rich in dissolved salts lies beneath this flat surface. Pdf hydrogeology of the lacustrine system of the eastern margin. Chile 3,000 km2, and possesses a watercourse system that. It is considered one of the driest places on earth. Taking a moment to appreciate the raw beauty of the atacama desert.
It has a rough white surface below which there is a large salt lake. New and past geochemical data on fresh to brine waters of. Salt cones on rugged perennial rocksalt crust in the northwestern. Located 35miles 56 km south of san pedro, laguna chaxa is one of the. Rocas mqs, del tipo sedimentaria del miocenocuaternario. Its top highlights include a number of shallow, saline lagoons that dot the area and which are home to a surprising amount of wildlife. Thesis, universidad catolica del norte, chile, 251 p. Ni 43101 technical report on the atacama lithium project, region 2 of chile lc0625612. The desert runs along part of south americas central west coast. Many of the tourist attractions are well above 4000m 12000 feet. Sources of surface water for the soncor ecosystem, salar. This study focusses on the southern half of the salar where li.