Salar de Atacama

The Salar de Atacama is a large salt flat in the hyper-arid north of Chile. Beneath and around the salar are linked but chemically distinct water environments, ranging from freshwater inflows and shallow transition zones to concentrated brines. A 2021 study in Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems integrates water sampling, geochemical analysis and remote sensing to examine the salar’s margins. It describes springs, wetlands, lagoons and transitional pools, and finds that their characteristics reflect freshwater inflow, subsurface geology and climate variability.

Lithium occurs in brines within underground aquifers in the Salar de Atacama basin. The European Space Agency reports that extraction involves pumping brine to the surface and concentrating it in evaporation ponds. The salt flat is an important lithium resource, but it is also a sensitive desert setting where water systems support distinctive ecosystems and local needs. Scientific work emphasizes that freshwater and brine zones are not interchangeable; understanding their hydrological and geochemical relationships matters when assessing resource development and environmental effects.

Satellite radar enables researchers to measure subtle vertical changes in the ground. In a 2026 account of a study using Spain’s PAZ satellite and Copernicus Sentinel-1, ESA reported that land above depleted aquifers at lithium extraction facilities subsided by about 1.5 centimetres over seven months. This finding describes a measured change over the study period, not a uniform rate for the entire salar. Continued observation is relevant because the basin combines valuable mineral resources with fragile ecosystems and complex water flows.