"},"area":{"wt":"{{convert|1600|km2|sqmi|0|abbr=on}}"},"depth":{"wt":""},"max-depth":{"wt":""},"residence_time":{"wt":""},"elevation":{"wt":"{{convert|3460|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}"},"cities":{"wt":"[[Tolar Grande]]"},"reference":{"wt":""},"islands":{"wt":"[[Cono de Arita]]"}},"i":1}},"\n[[File:Salar de Arizaro 2013.jpg|thumb|300px|right|The [[dry lakebed]]s and [[yardangs]] in Salar de Arizaro,imaged by [[NASA]]'s [[Earth Observing-1]] satellite. In the upper left corner,small rounded bumps in the landscape are [[yardangs]],dusty hills formed when soft rocks are weathered and abraded by winds. The yardangs are aligned precisely with the northwesterly winds. On the right,bulbous hills have sharps edges,a formation typical of [[salt weathering]] around the base. During salt weathering,rocks are eroded by repeated salt crystal growth. The eroded material has been blown away by the strong winds of the high desert,leaving the sharp edge.[http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=83914&src=eoa-iotd Salar de Arizaro] at NASA [[Earth Observatory]]]]",{"template":{"target":{"wt":"stack end","href":"./Template:Stack_end"},"params":{},"i":2}}]}" id="mwBA">.mw-parser-output .stack{box-sizing:border-box}.mw-parser-output .stack>div{margin:1px;overflow:hidden}@media all and (min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .stack-clear-left{float:left;clear:left}.mw-parser-output .stack-clear-right{float:right;clear:right}.mw-parser-output .stack-left{float:left}.mw-parser-output .stack-right{float:right}.mw-parser-output .stack-margin-clear-left{float:left;clear:left;margin-right:1em}.mw-parser-output .stack-margin-clear-right{float:right;clear:right;margin-left:1em}.mw-parser-output .stack-margin-left{float:left;margin-right:1em}.mw-parser-output .stack-margin-right{float:right;margin-left:1em}}
Salar de Arizaro | |
---|---|
Location | Argentina |
Coordinates | 24°43′22.8″S67°44′16.8″W / 24.723000°S 67.738000°W |
Basin countries | Argentina |
Max. length | 100 km (62 mi) [1] |
Max. width | 50 km (31 mi) [1] |
Surface area | 1,600 km2 (618 sq mi) |
Surface elevation | 3,460 m (11,352 ft) |
Islands | Cono de Arita |
Settlements | Tolar Grande |
Salar de Arizaro ("Arizaro" comes from Atacameno haâri "crow", "condor" and ara, aro, "accommodation", "place where something is common". [3] ) is a large salt flat of the Andes in north-western Argentina. It is located between the villages of Tolar Grande and Caipe and near Mina La Casualidad, [1] in Los Andes Department, Salta Province.
Located in the central-western area of the Puna de Atacama, it covers an area of 1,600 km2. [4] Per extension, the Salar de Arizaro is the 6th largest salt flat in the World and the 2nd largest in Argentina after the Salinas Grandes. [5] [6]
The salar area is mined for metallic and non-metallic resources, as it is rich in salt, marble, iron, copper and onyx. [7]
The nearest salt flats are the ones of Antofalla, Hombre Muerto (both in the north of Catamarca Province), Pocitos (in the east) and the Salinas Grandes of Jujuy and Salta provinces.
The Salar de Arizaro is crossed in the middle by the Salta–Antofagasta railway and the Provincial Route 27 [1] (part of the former RN 59). A particular characteristic of it is a conical hill named Cerro Cono (or Cono de Arita), [8] a sandstone-formation. [9]
Argentina has a vast territory and a variety of climates and microclimates ranging from tundra and polar in the south to the tropical climate in the north, through a vast expanse of temperate climate. Natural wonders include the Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the world outside the Himalayas, the widest river and estuary of the planet, the Iguazú Falls, the Humid Pampas, and the Argentine Sea. Visitors enjoy the culture, customs and Argentine cuisine.
Jujuy[xuˈxuj] is a province of Argentina, located in the extreme northwest of the country, at the borders with Chile and Bolivia. The only neighboring Argentine province is Salta to the east and south.
The Altiplano, Collao or Andean Plateau, in west-central South America, is the most extensive high plateau on Earth outside Tibet. The plateau is located at the latitude of the widest part of the north–south-trending Andes. The bulk of the Altiplano lies in Bolivia, but its northern parts lie in Peru, and its southwestern fringes lie in Chile.
San Pedro de Atacama is a Chilean town and commune in El Loa Province, Antofagasta Region. It is located east of Antofagasta, some 106 km (60 mi) southeast of Calama and the Chuquicamata copper mine, overlooking the Licancabur volcano. It features a significant archeological museum, the R. P. Gustavo Le Paige Archaeological Museum, with a large collection of relics and artifacts from the region. Native ruins nearby attract increasing numbers of tourists interested in learning about pre-Columbian cultures.
Salar de Atacama, located 55 km (34 mi) south of San Pedro de Atacama, is the largest salt flat in Chile. It is surrounded by mountains and lacks drainage outlets. To the east, it is enclosed by the main chain of the Andes, while to the west lies a secondary mountain range called Cordillera de Domeyko. The landscape is dominated by imposing volcanoes such as Licancabur, Acamarachi, Aguas Calientes, and Láscar, the latter being one of Chile's most active volcanoes. These volcanoes are situated along the eastern side of the Salar de Atacama, forming a north–south trending line that separates it from smaller endorheic basins.
Los Flamencos National Reserve is a nature reserve located in the commune of San Pedro de Atacama, Antofagasta Region of northern Chile. The reserve covers a total area of 740 square kilometres (290 sq mi) in the Central Andean dry puna ecoregion and consists of seven separate sections.
Zapaleri is a volcano whose summit is the tripoint of the borders of Argentina, Bolivia and Chile. A number of railways are in the area. It is part of Potosí Department (Bolivia), Jujuy Province (Argentina), and Antofagasta Region (Chile). The volcano formed on top of the 2.89 mya Tara Ignimbrite from the Guacha caldera and the basement beneath the volcano is formed from Cretaceous and Tertiary rocks affected by tectonic deformation. Volcanic rocks are andesite, basalt, dacite and rhyolite. Late Cretaceous rocks are also found in the area, as are Pleistocene shoshonite volcanic rocks.
Salar de Talar is a 46 square kilometres salt flat located in the high puna of northern Chilean Andes, at an altitude of 3,950 m. It is part of a series of salt lakes and salt flats located at the foothills of a chain of volcanoes stretching along the eastern side of the much greater Salar de Atacama.
The Puna de Atacama or Atacama Plateau is an arid high plateau, in the Andes of northern Chile (15%) and northwest of Argentina (85%). Geomorphologist Walther Penck based his Grossfalt landform association on Puna de Atacama.
Tolar Grande is a village and rural municipality in Salta Province in northwestern Argentina.
Los Andes is a department located in Salta Province, Argentina. It is the second largest by area in the province, after Rivadavia Department, and its capital is the town of San Antonio de los Cobres.
La Poma is a department located in Salta Province, Argentina. It is the least populated department of the province and its capital is the town of La Poma.
The Salta–Antofagasta railway, also named Huaytiquina, is a non-electrified single track railway line that links Argentina and Chile passing through the Andes. It is a 1,000 mmmetre gauge railway with a total length of 941 km, connecting the city of Salta (Argentina) to the one of Antofagasta (Chile), on the Pacific Ocean, passing through the Puna de Atacama and Atacama Desert.
Llullaillaco is a dormant stratovolcano at the border of Argentina and Chile. It lies in the Puna de Atacama, a region of tall volcanic peaks on a high plateau close to the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places in the world. It is the second highest active volcano in the world after Ojos del Salado.
Antofalla is a Miocene-Pliocene volcano in Argentina's Catamarca Province. It is part of the volcanic segment of the Andes in Argentina, and it is considered to be part of the Central Volcanic Zone, one of the volcanic zones of the Andes. Antofalla forms a group of volcanoes that are aligned on and behind the main volcanic arc. Antofalla itself is a remote volcano.
Ojos de Mar is a group of 3–6 small water bodies close to the town of Tolar Grande in Argentina and an important tourist attraction there. They are inhabited by extremophile microorganisms of interest to biotechnology; stromatolites have also been found there.
Salar del Hombre Muerto is a salt pan in Argentina, in the Antofagasta de la Sierra Department on the border between the Salta and Catamarca Provinces. It covers an area of 600 square kilometres (230 sq mi) and is in part covered by debris. During the Pleistocene it was sometimes a lake, but today only parts of the salt pan are covered by perennial water bodies; its major tributary is the Rio de Los Patos.
The Geste Formation is a fossiliferous geologic formation of the Puna Plateau in the western Salta Province and northern Catamarca Province of the Argentine Northwest, northwestern Argentina.
Cerro Tuzgle is a dormant stratovolcano in the Susques Department of Jujuy Province in northwestern Argentina. Tuzgle is a prominent volcano of the back arc of the Andes and lies about 280 kilometres (170 mi) east of the main volcanic arc. Part of the Central Volcanic Zone of the Andes, its summit is 5,486 metres (17,999 ft) above sea level and it grew during different stages over a caldera and lava domes. Some major lava flows emanate from the summit crater, and one confirmed and one possible flank collapse unit as well as an ignimbrite sheet are associated with Tuzgle.
Salar Ignorado is a salar in the Andes of Chile's Atacama Region at 4,250 metres (13,940 ft) elevation. Located just south of Cerro Bayo volcano, it comprises 0.7 square kilometres (0.27 sq mi) of salt flats, sand dunes and numerous pools of open water. The waters of Salar Ignorado, unlike these of other salt flats in the central Andes, are acidic owing to the input of sulfuric acid from hydrothermal water and the weathering of volcanic rocks.