Morfología de las costras evaporíticas del salar de Pozuelos, Puna Salteña

MARTINEZ, V.R.; GALLI, C.I.; ALONSO, R.N.,

Revista de la Asociacion Geologica Argentina

Asociación Geológica Argentina

Lugar: Buenos Aires; Año: 2020 vol. 77 p. 163 - 173

1669-7316

Morphology of evaporitical crusts of Salar de Pozuelos (Puna Salteña, Argentina). The saline lakes of Puna Argentina are important reservoirs of brines rich in alkaline and alkaline earth elements, including lithium and potassium. The related studies on their evapofacies and superficial crusts are scarce. This work presents the different morphologies of the evaporitic crusts in salar de Pozuelos (Puna Austral, Salta Argentina). It is a saline depression at ~ 3760 masl, whose approximate geographical coordinates are 24° 40´S and 66° 45´W, elongated on the NE-SW, about ~ 13 km long and ~ 6 km wide, with an area of ~ 84 km2. Different types of crusts were identified and mapped in this salar, according to their morphology, structures and clastic content. The evaporitic salt crusts are associated with changes of local side facies within the salar, interrelated to their conditions and position regarding the water table, as well as to the ephemeral streams, to their location in the salar and to the topography. This paper present the relationship between evapofacies, evaporitic crusts and resources in salts and chemical brine elements.