What are the huge colored ponds on the flat for?

Evaporating brine to get lithium

Salar de Atacama Quiz: Flamingos, Lithium and Lagoons

This Salar de Atacama quiz explores the salt flat beside San Pedro de Atacama in northern Chile. Play 10 interactive questions on its size, the Atacama Desert's dryness, Chaxa Lagoon and three flamingo species, Los Flamencos National Reserve, lithium brine evaporation ponds, floating in Laguna Cejar, the Licancabur volcano and the town of San Pedro.

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🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Country
Which country is the Salar de Atacama in?
Record
What is it in Chile?
Desert
Which desert surrounds it?
Lagoon
Which lagoon is famous for flamingos?
Birds
How many flamingo species can be seen there?
Reserve
Which reserve protects parts of the salt flat?
Lithium
What are the huge colored ponds on the flat for?
Float
What can visitors do in Laguna Cejar?
Volcano
Which cone-shaped volcano rises nearby?
Town
Which town is the gateway to the area?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Which country is the Salar de Atacama in?
Answer: Chile
It lies in the far north.
Q2: What is it in Chile?
Answer: The largest salt flat
It covers about 3,000 square km.
Q3: Which desert surrounds it?
Answer: Atacama
It is the driest non-polar desert.
Q4: Which lagoon is famous for flamingos?
Answer: Chaxa Lagoon
Birds feed in shallow water.
Q5: How many flamingo species can be seen there?
Answer: Three
Andean, Chilean and James's flamingos.
Q6: Which reserve protects parts of the salt flat?
Answer: Los Flamencos National Reserve
It includes lagoons and valleys.
Q7: What are the huge colored ponds on the flat for?
Answer: Evaporating brine to get lithium
Sun and wind dry the brine.
Q8: What can visitors do in Laguna Cejar?
Answer: Float easily in salty water
It is saltier than the sea.
Q9: Which cone-shaped volcano rises nearby?
Answer: Licancabur
It sits on the Bolivian border.
Q10: Which town is the gateway to the area?
Answer: San Pedro de Atacama
Adobe buildings line its streets.

Flamingos, Brine Ponds and Desert Lagoons

The Salar de Atacama in northern Chile is the country's largest salt flat, covering about 3,000 square kilometers in the Atacama Desert, the driest non-polar desert on Earth. The adobe town of San Pedro de Atacama is the gateway, with the cone of Licancabur volcano rising nearby.

Los Flamencos National Reserve protects lagoons on the salt flat. At Chaxa Lagoon, Andean, Chilean and James's flamingos feed in shallow, salty water, especially at sunrise and sunset. At Laguna Cejar, the water is saltier than the sea, so swimmers float easily.

Beneath the crust lies brine rich in lithium. Companies pump it into huge colorful ponds where sun and wind evaporate the water, leaving lithium salts used in batteries. Chile is one of the world's largest lithium producers, and the industry raises questions about water use in the desert.

What This Quiz Teaches

Nature fans will enjoy these questions.

Where the salt flat is
Which birds live there
What the ponds are for
What visitors can do
Which landmarks surround it

Did You Know?

The Atacama's clear skies host major telescopes.
Indigenous Lickanantay people live in the region.
Moon Valley is a famous nearby landscape.
El Tatio geysers steam at dawn.
Rain may not fall for years in parts of the desert.