Mar Chiquita (in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

literally "Little Sea") or Mar de Ansenuza is an

endorheic An endorheic basin (; also spelled endoreic basin or endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water, such as rivers or oceans, but drainage converges instead into lakes ...

salt lake located in the northeast of the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Córdoba, in central

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. The northeast corner of the lake also extends into southeastern

Santiago del Estero Province Santiago del Estero (), also known simply as Santiago, is a province in the north of Argentina. Neighboring provinces, clockwise from the north, are Salta, Chaco, Santa Fe, Córdoba, Catamarca and Tucumán. History The indigenous inhabita ...

. It is the largest of the naturally occurring saline lakes in Argentina. The lake is located in parts of five departments in the two provinces. The lake is in the

Argentine Espinal The Espinal (NT0801) is an ecoregion of dry, thorny forest, savanna and steppe in Argentina. It has been extensively modified by large scale cattle ranching, but remnants of the original flora remain. It is threatened by the advance of the irriga ...

ecoregion. It occupies the southern part of a depression that measures about 50 miles/80 km (north–south) by 28 miles/45 km (east–west). Its surface area varies considerably, given its shallow depth (about 10 m), and ranges between 2000 and 6000 km² (1242 and 3728 mi²).

Hydrology

Mar Chiquita is fed primarily by the saline waters of the Dulce River, coming from Santiago del Estero in the north after being joined by the Saladillo River. The lands around the lower course of the Dulce and Mar Chiquita are wetlands, populated by a large

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

(especially aquatic birds). From the southwest the lake receives the flow of the Primero/Suquía and the Segundo/Xanaes rivers, as well as several streams; these inflows vary greatly from dry to rainy seasons. The salinity of Mar Chiquita is quite variable, with measured extremes ranging from 250 g/L in times of low water levels to around 40 g/L in very humid years, such as in the decade following 1977, when record rainfall flooded much of Miramar, Córdoba. There are several islands in the lake, the most important one being the Médano Island. Mar Chiquita is slowly diminishing in volume due to increased evaporation and elevation of its bottom, and is ultimately bound to turn into a salt flat. According to the Mono Lake Committee,

Aves Argentinas Aves Argentinas / Asociación Ornitológica del Plata (in English: ''Argentine Birds''), is an Argentine non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation and birdwatching. Created in 1916, it is the oldest environmental organization ...

and Argentina Natura International are attempting to establish "the largest National Park in Argentina at Laguna Mar Chiquita, the" (northern) "winter home to large concentrations of

Wilson's Phalarope Wilson's phalarope (''Phalaropus tricolor'') is a small wader. This bird, the largest of the phalaropes, breeds in the prairies of North America in western Canada and the western United States. It is migratory, wintering in inland salt lakes ...

s." The lake was formerly home to a growing tourism industry, and was the site of the , a luxurious, lakefront establishment which functioned from 1945 to 1980, and has been the center of numerous mysteries and controversies.''La Nación'': Gran Hotel Viena, el gigante rodeado de lujo y de misterio
/ref>

References

Government of Córdoba Province — Water and Sanitation Office

NASA Earth Observatory — Dust Storm in Argentina

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mar Chiquita (Cordoba) Lakes of Argentina Endorheic lakes of South America Saline lakes of South America Landforms of Córdoba Province, Argentina Ramsar sites in Argentina