__NOTOC__ Laguna Colorada (''Red Lagoon'') is a shallow

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 the southwest of 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 ...

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 ...

, within

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 ...

and close to the border with

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, notable for the

reddish Reddish is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester city centre. At the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census, the population was 28,052. Historic counties of England, Historical ...

color of its waters.

The lake contains

borax The BORAX Experiments were a series of safety experiments on boiling water nuclear reactors conducted by Argonne National Laboratory in the 1950s and 1960s at the National Reactor Testing Station in eastern Idaho.

islands, whose white color contrasts with the reddish color of its waters, which is caused by red sediments and pigmentation of some

algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...

Geography

Laguna Colorada is part of the Los Lípez (formerly Laguna Colorada)

Ramsar wetland The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on Wetlands. It i ...

. It was listed as a "

Ramsar Wetland of International Importance Ramsar may refer to: * Places so named: ** Ramsar, Mazandaran, city in Iran ** Ramsar, Rajasthan, village in India * Eponyms of the Iranian city: ** Ramsar Convention The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially ...

" in 1990. On, July 13, 2009, the site was expanded from 513.18 to to include the surrounding high Andean

endorheic 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 ...

hypersaline A hypersaline lake is a landlocked body of water that contains significant concentrations of sodium chloride, brines, and other salts, with saline levels surpassing those of ocean water (3.5%, i.e. ). Specific microbial species can thrive i ...

and

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

lakes and associated wetlands (known as

bofedales Bofedales (singular ''bofedal''), known in some parts of Peru as oconales, are a type of wetland found in the Andes. They feature in the land use and ecology of high Andean ecosystems. They form in flat areas around ponds or streams and may be pe ...

).The Annotated Ramsar List: Bolivia
/ref>

Fauna

James's flamingo James's flamingo (''Phoenicoparrus jamesi''), also known as the puna flamingo, is a species of flamingo that lives at high altitudes in the Andes, Andean plateaus of Peru, Chile, Bolivia, and northwest Argentina. It is named for Harry Berkeley Ja ...

s abound in the area. It is also possible to find

Andean The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long and wide (widest between 18°S ...

and Chilean flamingos, but in lesser quantities.

References

External links

Photo of Laguna Colorada on National Geographic's website
Lakes of Potosí Department Ramsar sites in Bolivia Saline lakes of South America {{SouthAm-protected-area-stub

Contents

Geography

Fauna

See also

References

External links