Laguna Salada (Mexico)
Encyclopedia
Laguna Salada is a vast dry lake
some 10 meters below sea level (sometimes wet - sometimes dry) in the Sonoran Desert
of Baja California
, 30 km (18.6 mi) southwest of Mexicali
. The lake's shape vaguely resembles a rhombus. When dry, the flatness of the exposed lake bed sediments makes it a favoured location for recreational driving. It is also notorious for its dust storms (when dry), usually the result of monsoon
al thunderstorms during the summer. During times of significant rain the lagoon can fill completely with water, leaving the unpaved road along its west bank as the only means of traversing the area. Flanked by the Sierra de Los Cucapah
and the Sierra de Juárez
mountain ranges, the lake is approximately 60 km (37.3 mi) long and 17 km (10.6 mi) at its widest point.
, which is linked to the San Andreas Fault
, and the East Pacific Rise
as part of the Laguna Salada Fault
. This fault is connected to the Salton Through fault which holds a similar depression, the Salton Sink
. This sink is bigger than Laguna Salada and contains the Salton Sea
. The 2010 Baja California earthquake
occurred here.
Dry lake
Dry lakes are ephemeral lakebeds, or a remnant of an endorheic lake. Such flats consist of fine-grained sediments infused with alkali salts. Dry lakes are also referred to as alkali flats, sabkhas, playas or mud flats...
some 10 meters below sea level (sometimes wet - sometimes dry) in the Sonoran Desert
Sonoran Desert
The Sonoran Desert is a North American desert which straddles part of the United States-Mexico border and covers large parts of the U.S. states of Arizona and California and the northwest Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur. It is one of the largest and hottest...
of Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
, 30 km (18.6 mi) southwest of Mexicali
Mexicali
Mexicali is the capital of the State of Baja California, seat of the Municipality of Mexicali, and 2nd largest city in Baja California. The City of Mexicali has a population of 689,775, according to the 2010 census, while the population of the entire metropolitan area reaches 936,826.The city...
. The lake's shape vaguely resembles a rhombus. When dry, the flatness of the exposed lake bed sediments makes it a favoured location for recreational driving. It is also notorious for its dust storms (when dry), usually the result of monsoon
Monsoon
Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea...
al thunderstorms during the summer. During times of significant rain the lagoon can fill completely with water, leaving the unpaved road along its west bank as the only means of traversing the area. Flanked by the Sierra de Los Cucapah
Sierra de Los Cucapah
Sierra de Los Cucapah is a mountain range in Baja California, Mexico, south of Mexicali.The Sierra de los Cucapah are north-south trending mountains between the Laguna Salada basin to the west and the Cerro Prieto Volcano and Cerro Prieto Geothermal Power Station to the east. The geothermal field...
and the Sierra de Juárez
Sierra de Juárez
Sierra de Juárez is a mountain range on the Baja California Peninsula, of Baja California, Mexico. It is part of the Peninsular Ranges. The Laguna Mountains of California lie to the north and the Sierra San Pedro Mártir lies to the south....
mountain ranges, the lake is approximately 60 km (37.3 mi) long and 17 km (10.6 mi) at its widest point.
Tectonic activity
The lake itself is located on the bottom of a shallow depression, a grabenGraben
In geology, a graben is a depressed block of land bordered by parallel faults. Graben is German for ditch. Graben is used for both the singular and plural....
, which is linked to the San Andreas Fault
San Andreas Fault
The San Andreas Fault is a continental strike-slip fault that runs a length of roughly through California in the United States. The fault's motion is right-lateral strike-slip...
, and the East Pacific Rise
East Pacific Rise
The East Pacific Rise is a mid-oceanic ridge, a divergent tectonic plate boundary located along the floor of the Pacific Ocean. It separates the Pacific Plate to the west from the North American Plate, the Rivera Plate, the Cocos Plate, the Nazca Plate, and the Antarctic Plate...
as part of the Laguna Salada Fault
Laguna Salada Fault
The Laguna Salada Fault is a geological fault between the United States and Mexico. About to long, it straddles the Imperial County-California–Baja California border.-Earthquakes:...
. This fault is connected to the Salton Through fault which holds a similar depression, the Salton Sink
Salton Sink
The Salton Sink is a geographic sink in the Coachella and Imperial valleys of southeastern California. It is in the Colorado Desert subregion of the Sonoran Desert ecoregion...
. This sink is bigger than Laguna Salada and contains the Salton Sea
Salton Sea
The Salton Sea is a shallow, saline, endorheic rift lake located directly on the San Andreas Fault, predominantly in California's Imperial Valley. The lake occupies the lowest elevations of the Salton Sink in the Colorado Desert of Imperial and Riverside counties in Southern California. Like Death...
. The 2010 Baja California earthquake
2010 Baja California earthquake
The 2010 Baja California earthquake was an earthquake of 7.2 magnitude on the moment magnitude scale. It started south of Guadalupe Victoria, Baja California, Mexico, at a depth of . It occurred at 3:40:41 p.m...
occurred here.
External links
- Satellite Photo (Google Maps)
- Vol. 44, Num. 1, pp. 103-111, A technical paper by Juan Contreras, Arturo Martín-Barajas and Juan Carlos Herguera on sedimentation of the LS-basin. Published in Geofísica Internacional (2005)