Salt pan (geology)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Salt pan is a geological formation found in deserts. It is a flat expanse of ground covered with salt and other minerals, usually shining white under the sun.
A salt pan is formed where water pools. A salt pan would be a lake or a pond if it were located in a climate where the rate of water evaporation were not faster than the rate of water precipitation, i.e., if it were not in a desert. If the water is unable to drain into the ground, it remains on the surface until it evaporates, leaving behind whatever minerals were dissolved. Over thousands of years, the minerals (usually salts) accumulate on the surface.
Salt pans can be dangerous. The crust of salt can conceal a quagmire of mud that can engulf a truck. The Qattara Depression in the eastern Sahara desert contains many such traps which served as strategic barriers during World War II.
The Black Rock Desert in Nevada, where the annual Burning Man Festival is held, and the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, where many land speed records have been set, are two well-known salt pans in the arid regions of the western United States.
The Etosha Pan in the Etosha National Park in Namibia is another prominent example of a salt pan.
