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{{short description|Flat expanse of ground covered with salt and other minerals}}
{{About|the land feature|the tidal feature|Salt pannes and pools}}
[[Image:ET Afar asv2018-01 img01 Lake Karum area.jpg|thumb|Salt pan at [[Lake Karum]] in [[Ethiopia]]]]
[[Image:Cono de Arita en el Salar de Arizaro.jpg|thumb|Cono de Arita in [[Salar de Arizaro]], [[Salta Province|Salta]] ([[Argentina]])]]▼
Natural '''salt pans''' or '''salt flats''' are flat expanses of ground covered with [[salt]] and other [[mineral]]s, usually shining white under the [[sun]]. They are found in [[desert]]s and are natural formations (unlike [[salt evaporation pond]]s, which are artificial).
 
A salt pan forms by evaporation of a [[water]] pool, such as a [[lake]] or [[pond]]. This happens in climates where the rate of water [[evaporation]] exceeds the rate of {{nowrap|[[precipitation (meteorology)|precipitation]], {{hsp}}{{mdash}}}}{{tsp}}that is, in a desert. If the water cannot drain into the ground, it remains on the surface until it evaporates, leaving behind minerals precipitated from the salt ions [[solutionSolution (chemistry)|dissolved]] in the water. Over thousands of [[year]]s, the minerals (usually salts) accumulate on the surface.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.saltassociation.co.uk/education/physical-geography-salt-shaped-landscape/|title=Physical Geography {{!}} How Salt Shapes Our Lives|website=The Salt Association|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-26}}</ref> These minerals reflect the sun's rays (through radiation) and often appear as white areas.
 
Salt pans can be dangerous. The crust of salt can conceal a [[quagmire]] of [[mud]] that can engulf a truck. The [[Qattara Depression]] in the eastern [[Sahara Desert]] contains many such traps which served as strategic barriers during [[World War II]].<ref>Jorgensen, C. (2003). ''Rommel's panzers: Rommel and the Panzer forces of the Blitzkrieg, 1940-1942'' (pp. 78–79). St. Paul, MN: MBI.</ref>
 
[[Image:Death Valley,19820817,Devil's Golf Course.jpg|thumb|[[Devil's Golf Course]], [[Death Valley National Park]], United States]]
 
==Examples==
[[File:Saltph26.jpg|thumb|The [[Bonneville Salt Flats]], [[Utah]] ]]
 
The [[Bonneville Salt Flats]] in [[Utah]], where many [[land speed record]]s have been set, are a well-known salt pan in the arid regions of the [[western United States]].
 
The [[Etosha pan]], in the [[Etosha National Park]] in [[Namibia]], is another prominent example of a salt pan.
 
The [[Salar de Uyuni]] in [[Bolivia]] is the largest salt pan in the world. ItAs containsof 50%2024, with an estimated 23 million [[tonne|ton]]s, Bolivia holds toabout 7022% of the world's known lithium reservesresources (105 million tons); most of those are in the Salar de Uyuni.<ref>{{cite webnews |url=https://foreignpolicypubs.comusgs.gov/articlesperiodicals/2009/10mcs2024/21/bolivias_lithium_powered_future mcs2024-lithium.pdf
|title=Bolivia's Lithium-Powered Future:Statistics What the global battery boom means for the future of South America's poorest country. |first=Joshua |last=Keatingand Information|publisher=[[Foreign PolicyUSGS]]}} |date=2009([https://www.usgs.gov/centers/national-10minerals-information-21}}center/lithium-statistics-and-information other Lithium statistics from USGS])</ref> The large area, clear skies, and exceptional flatness of the surface make the Salar an ideal object for calibrating the [[altimeter]]s of Earth observation satellites.<ref>{{cite news |bibcode=2002AGUFMOS52A0193B |title=GPS Survey of the salar de Uyuni, Bolivia, for Satellite Altimeter Calibration |last=Borsa |first=A. A |publisher=American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting |year=2002|display-authors=etal}}</ref><ref name=ieee>{{cite journal |lastlast1=Lamparelli |firstfirst1=R. A. C. |title=Characterization of the Salar de Uyuni for in-orbit satellite calibration |journal=IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens. |volume=41 |issue=6 |pages=1461–1468 |year=2003 |doi=10.1109/TGRS.2003.810713 |display-authors=1 |last2=Ponzoni |first2=F.J. |last3=Zullo |first3=J. |last4=Queiroz Pellegrino |first4=G. |last5=Arnaud |first5=Y.|bibcode = 2003ITGRS..41.1461C |urls2cid=https://semanticscholar.org/paper/6b6a5037f838a2342d5681b642944fd68c77555118716304 }}</ref>
[[Rann of Kutch]] is also a popular Salt desert
 
Parts of [[Rann of Kutch]] (India) are [[salt marsh]] in the wet season and salt pan in the dry season.<ref name="CNN2018">{{cite web | url=https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/india-rann-of-kutch/index.html | title=Rann of Kutch: Explore India's largest salt desert | publisher=[[CNN]] | work=CNN Travel | date=9 July 2018 | access-date=5 October 2020 | last=Springer | first=K.}}</ref>
== See also ==▼
 
▲== See also ==
▲[[Image:Cono de Arita en el Salar de Arizaro.jpg|thumb|Cono de Arita in [[Salar de Arizaro]], [[Salta Province|Salta]] ([[Argentina]])]]
* {{annotated link|Chott}}
* {{annotated link|Dry lake}}
* {{annotated link|Sabkha}}
* {{annotated link|Salt diapir}}
* {{annotated link|Salt evaporation pond}}
* {{annotated link|Salt lake}}
* {{annotated link|Salt tectonics}}
* {{annotated link|Sink (geography)|Sink}}
* {{annotated link|Solonchak}}
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== References ==
 
{{reflist}}
* {{cite journal
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| pages = 627–644
| doi = 10.1111/j.1365-3091.1985.tb00478.x
|bibcode = 1985Sedim..32..627L | author2-link = Lawrence_Alexander_HardieLawrence Alexander Hardie
}}
 
{{authority control}}
{{Normdaten}}
[[Category:Salt flats| ]]
[[Category:Geomorphology]]
[[Category:LandformsLacustrine landforms]]
[[Category:Salts]]
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