__NOTOC__ Laguna Blanca 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 liter). I ...

in an

endorheic basin An endorheic basin ( ; also endoreic basin and endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water (e.g. rivers and oceans); instead, the water drainage flows into permanent ...

, in the

Sur Lípez Province Sur Lípez or Sud Lípez is a province in the Potosí Department in Bolivia. The seat of the province is San Pablo de Lípez. Location Sur Lípez is one of sixteen provinces in the Potosí Department. Also, the southwesternmost point of Bolivia ...

of the

Potosí Department Potosí (; Southern Quechua, Quechua: ''P'utuqsi''; Aymara language, Aymara: ''Putusi'') is a Departments of Bolivia, department in southwestern Bolivia. Its area is 118,218 km2 and its population is 856,419 (2024 census). The capital is the ...

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

. It is near the

Licancabur Licancabur () is a prominent, stratovolcano on the Bolivia–Chile border in the Central Volcanic Zone of the Andes. It is capped by a wide summit crater which contains Licancabur Lake, a Volcanic crater lake, crater lake that is among the hig ...

volcano.

Geography

The lake is at an elevation of on the

Altiplano The Altiplano (Spanish language, Spanish for "high plain"), Collao (Quechuan languages, Quechua and Aymara language, Aymara: Qullaw, meaning "place of the Qulla people, Qulla") or Andean Plateau, in west-central South America, is the most extens ...

. Its surface area is 10.9 km². The lake is long and wide. The characteristic white colour of the water, that gave the lake its name, is caused by the high amount of minerals suspended in it. Only a narrow corridor separates Laguna Blanca from the smaller

Laguna Verde Laguna Verde, the Spanish-language form of ''green lagoon'' or ''green lake'', may refer to: Bolivia *Laguna Verde (Bolivia), a salt lake in Potosi Department *Laguna Verde (Beni), a lake in Beni Department *Laguna Verde (Comarapa), a lake in Comar ...

. Both are within the

Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve The Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve (''Reserva Nacional de Fauna Andina Eduardo Avaroa''; Spanish acronym: REA) is located in Sur Lípez Province. Situated in the far southwestern region of Bolivia, it is the country's most visited ...

. In the past, Laguna Blanca was much larger; at least 45 meters higher than today and extending far east past its current shore. Having reached a peak water level 13,240 years before the present, Laguna Verde was then merged with Laguna Blanca.

References

External links

Lakes of Potosí Department Endorheic lakes of South America {{Potosí-geo-stub

Geography

See also

References

External links