RP323 A White Ocean

 RP323 A White Ocean

One geophysicist described it as “a white ocean with no waves.” Imagine standing on 10,582 square kilometers of barren white land as flat as a dinner plate, and you have some idea of what it might be like to visit the Salar de Uyuni, the world's largest salt flat in Bolivia, South America.
Formed from the gradual drying of a gigantic prehistoric lake, the Salar is covered with a solid salt crust a few meters thick and hides a 20-meter-deep lake of salt water beneath the surface. It looks like a region of Antarctica rather than South America, and visitors find it difficult to convince themselves that it's salt, not snow, that they' re treading on.
The salt flat is dotted occasionally with small islands, which are the tops of ancient volcanoes once submerged beneath the lake, but which are now the perfect habitat for 1,000-year-old cacti growing at a rate of one centimeter per year.
The area is astonishingly flat, with elevation varying 80 centimeters at most over an area the size of a small country. This has made it perfect for satellites to use to adjust their altimeters. Satellites usually use the ocean floor to determine exactly how high they are in space, but the clear weather and uniform nature of the Salar makes it about five times more effective at giving accurate readings.
The salt flat has also been an economic lifesaver for Bolivia, which is South America's poorest country. It is estimated that up to 70 percent of the world's lithium supply is contained in the heavily concentrated salt water beneath the Salar's hard surface. Lithium, which is essential for making batteries, is extracted from the Salar by creating small ponds on the surface filled with the salty solution from beneath. The lithium and salt are separated as the water evaporates in the sun.
Visitors to the salt flats will also be able to see pink South American flamingos, which breed there in November, and also the famous Palacio de Sal, a hotel made entirely of salt, where the one important rule is “Don't lick the walls！”