Laguna Colorada

Shallow salt lake in the southwest of the altiplano of Bolivia

22°11′55″S 67°46′52″W / 22.19861°S 67.78111°W / -22.19861; -67.78111Typesalt lake^[1]Primary inflowsRio Sulor^[2]Basin countriesBoliviaMax. length10.7 km (6.6 mi)Max. width9.6 km (6.0 mi)Surface area60 km² (23 sq mi)Average depth0.35 m (1 ft 2 in)Max. depth1.5 m (4 ft 11 in)Shore length¹35 km (22 mi)Surface elevation4,278 m (14,035 ft)Islandsnumerous, sometimes huge borax deposit islands^[1] Map

Ramsar Wetland

Official nameLos LípezDesignated27 June 1990Reference no.489^[3] ¹ Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Laguna Colorada (Red Lagoon) is a shallow salt lake in the southwest of the altiplano of Bolivia, within Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve and close to the border with Chile.

The lake contains borax islands, whose white color contrasts with the reddish color of its waters, which is caused by red sediments and pigmentation of some algae.^[4]

Geography

Laguna Colorada is part of the Los Lípez (formerly Laguna Colorada) Ramsar wetland. It was listed as a "Ramsar Wetland of International Importance" in 1990. On, July 13, 2009, the site was expanded from 513.18 to 14,277.17 km² (5,512.45 sq mi) to include the surrounding high Andean endorheic, hypersaline and brackish lakes and associated wetlands (known as bofedales).^[5]

Fauna

James's flamingos abound in the area.^[4] It is also possible to find Andean and Chilean flamingos, but in lesser quantities.

References

^ ^a ^b Amusing Planet website, at Laguna Colorada: The Red Lagoon of Bolivia .
^ Hurlbert, Stuart H. (6 Dec 2012). Saline Lakes V: Proceedings of the Vth International Symposium on Inland Saline Lakes. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 264. ISBN 9789401120760.
^ "Los Lípez". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
^ ^a ^b "Laguna Colorada". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
^ The Annotated Ramsar List: Bolivia