__NOTOC__ Laguna del Carbón ( Spanish for "coal lagoon") is a

salt lake A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per litre) ...

Corpen Aike Department Corpen Aike Department is a department in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. It has a population of 7,942 (2001) and an area of 26,350 km². The seat of the department is in Puerto Santa Cruz. Municipalities * Comandante Luis Piedrabuena * Pu ...

, Santa Cruz Province,

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

. This salt lake is located from Puerto San Julián, within the ''Gran Bajo de San Julián'' (Great San Julián Depression), an

endorheic basin An endorheic basin (; also spelled endoreic basin or endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water, such as rivers or oceans, but drainage converges instead into lakes ...

situated between the San Julian Bay and the Chico River. At below

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardis ...

, Laguna del Carbón is the lowest point of

and

the Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

, and the seventh-lowest point on Earth. As in several other locations in

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and g ...

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s have been found in the area.

References

External links

near Puerto san Julián: Laguna del CarbónPhysiognomy of the Santa Cruz Province
- Argentine Paleontologic Association
Caroline and Stephen: 7 Lows
South America - Laguna del Carbón images Lakes of Santa Cruz Province, Argentina Endorheic lakes of South America Lowest points {{SantaCruzAR-geo-stub