Daily Celestial Challenge - Thursday / Forces Nature

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The Uyuni Salt

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The Uyuni Salt Flats is one of the most singular places in the World, and one of the most unspoiled places on Earth. When first arriving to Uyuni one of the first questions you may come up with is: how was it formed?

Many years ago (approximately 40.000 years ago!) this enormous flat was covered in the waters of Lake Minchin. The lake later disappeared giving way to many others like the Tauca lake. But at some point a movement of the plate tectonics beneath made the water retract to the lower areas and formed the mount range we can see today. Coupled with the rise in temperatures and climatic change (it went from wet to dry), the water slowly evaporated leaving behind the salt and minerals forming the largest salt flat in the World.

What is remarkable here is the fact there is groundwater beneath which evapotranspirates leaving salt on the surface and it is always feeding on rainwater. The scale of the vaporization is 10 times more than precipitation, leaving the Salar as an endless source of salt. In other words, Uyuni is a giant dried-up desert lake.

In rainy weather, the Salar de Uyuni becomes a "mirror" At dusk, the desert plain seems to be snowed. The flashes between the grains of salt and a little fade while the sun hides. With the surrounding darkness, the sky and horizon intertwine until the first stars begin to emerge. I turn to the floor, again I'm water. Minutes later, both above and below, the stellar twinkle conquers the night and the Milky Way cuts the celestial vault. Now I walk in outer space.

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Words directed by the photographer Sergio Izquierdo

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Note: @sirknight started a contest and its daily topics are:
Sunday-light
Monday - Darkness
Tuesday-AnimalDeer
Wednesday-Structures
Thursday-ForcesNature
Friday-AmorBellezaFreedom
Saturday-Agriculture