Today’s Image of the Day from NASA Earth Observatory features the Laguna Mar Chiquita and the neighboring salt flats in Central Argentina.

In this region, plate tectonics have altered the landscape to the point that a river was directed away from the salt flats.

After tectonic forces pushed up a ridge that divided a large salt lake, Laguna Grande, the river shifted in a new direction and the lake dried up.

At this point, the Laguna Mar Chiquita began receiving river water. Geologists believe that eventually, the same tectonic forces will deprive this lake of water as well.

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By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer

Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory