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Born from Ancient Waters
Forty thousand years ago, what is now the world's largest salt flat lay beneath the waters of a massive prehistoric lake. Lake Minchin, a giant inland sea that once covered much of southwestern Bolivia's Altiplano, began a transformation that would create one of Earth's most extraordinary landscapes. As climate patterns shifted and the Andes continued their slow rise, this ancient lake evolved through Lake Tauca and Lake Coipasa before evaporating completely around 11,500 years ago.
The evaporation concentrated mineral-rich waters into a crystalline legacy: 10 billion tons of salt spread across 10,582 square kilometers at 3,656 meters elevation, creating a landscape so flat it varies by less than one meter across its entire expanse. This remarkable flatness makes the Salar ideal for calibrating satellite altimeters from space. Beneath the salt crust lies a brine containing up to 70% of the world's known lithium reserves, making this ancient seabed increasingly important for modern technology.
