April 29, 2021 - Salt Flats in Argentina

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   Salt Flats, Argentina
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   On April 27, 2021, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
   (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a stunning true-color
   image of central Argentina’s salt flats tucked away amid green scrubby
   vegetation, agricultural fields, and dry mountains. To the southeast,
   the Laguna Mar Chiquita is fed by the Dulce River and appears green.

   Lago Salinas de Ambargasta sits north of Lago Salinas Grandes with the
   Pampas Mountains to the west. The two salt-encrusted, shallow lakes sit
   in a tectonic depression that covers about 18,000 square km (6,950
   square miles). In the Quaternary Period, a river to the north carried
   copious water into these salt flats which, at that time were joined as
   one large lake, aptly called Laguna Grande. Shifting plate tectonics
   caused changes in geography, such as raising a ridge up in the middle
   of Laguna Grande that split the lake into two and shifting the course
   of the river that fed the lakes. Over time, evaporation caused the
   lakes to shrink as water became more saline. Eventually little remained
   other than a thick crust of blindingly white salt. Although Lago
   Salinas de Ambargasta and Lago Salinas Grandes are typically dry,
   spring rains sometimes allows water to accumulate in each lake, giving
   them a tan or, if salt-loving algae is present, a green appearance.

   Image Facts
   Satellite:  Aqua
   Date Acquired: 4/27/2021
   Resolutions:  1km (482.4 KB),  500m (1.3 MB),  250m (912.9 KB)
   Bands Used: 1,4,3
   Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2021-04-29
 
