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Published online 30 November 2007 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2007.315

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The salt flat with curious curves

Mapping one of the flattest parts of the planet will help satellite calibration.

Eric Hand

A precise topographical map has been made of one of the flattest places on Earth: the salar de Uyuni, a vast plain of white cemented salt in the mountains of Bolivia. The ground survey, aided by global positioning systems (GPS), shows variations in elevation of less than a metre across an area almost half the size of Wales.

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  • Here is a link to the site in Google Maps, http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&time=&date=&ttype=&q=Bolivia&ie=UTF8&cd=1&geocode=0,-16.290154,-63.588653&ll=-20.215811,-67.62085&spn=1.899474,3.276672&t=h&z=9&om=1 Link for Google Earth users (KML download), http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&output=nl&msid=105485839377564769668.0004406e763ed1518f180 Link for Virtual Earth, http://maps.live.com/?v=2&cid=DF451B3BA5FD7C1F!169

    • 03 Dec, 2007
    • Posted by: Frederick Grose

  • Hi, From basic chemistry salt deposits are a result of desalination the mountings and depths are ionic. May have something to do with climate change in a El Niño-Southern Oscillation or what ever. Regards Dr. Terence Hale Zandvoort

    • 04 Dec, 2007
    • Posted by: Terence Hale