Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online 2025-4
Spatial and temporal heterogeneity of depositional environment and vegetational cover in a salt flat of the Lickan Antay Territory of Toconao,Northern Chile
High-altitude wetlands (HAWs) are important aquatic ecosystems located more than 3000 m a.s.l. in the Andean Altiplano–Puna plateau that include springs, meadows, peatlands, saline lakes, and salt flats. This region experiences arid climate conditions with high evaporation rates, extreme daily and annual thermal variations, intense winds, and exceptionally high radiation levels, creating harsh conditions for life. HAWs depend hydrologically on groundwater and inputs from the scarce rainfalls, streams, rivers, or snowmelt, making them unique to the Andean Altiplano landscape. Since pre-Hispanic times, they have provided essential ecosystem, social, and cultural functions in arid zones. In this study, the spatial heterogeneity of surface sediments in Salar de Quisquiro-Loyoques, in the Puna plateau of northern Chile, was examined. Through an integrated analysis of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and the normalized difference water index (NDWI) anomalies over the last 30 years supplemented by narratives from the Lickan Antay Community of Toconao about wet and arid events in the Quisquiro wetland, its relation to current and historical processes driven by exogenous forces was examined. Depositional conditions facilitate the formation or entry of sediments into these shallow water environments, making them highly dynamic. Differences in mineralogical, chemical, and magnetic properties were observed in inter- and intra-sampling points, where the salt flat was the most heterogeneous sub-environment analyzed. A close relationship between precipitation and water availability, and vegetation cover is suggested. Given the current potential for increasing non-metallic mining prospecting in the region, it is necessary to highlight the territorial rights, autonomy, and claims of the indigenous communities, who have preserved HAWs through their ancient identification with the territory and the use and comprehensive cultural and management practices in the past and at present.
AIC de Pueblos Atacameños (2023) Análisis preliminar plan de monitoreo hídrico en alta cordillera y Salar de Atacama. Toconao, Antofagasta Region, Chile. Annual Report No. 4, 2023.
2.
AllmendingerRWJordanTEKaySM, et al. (1997) The evolution of the Altiplano-Puna plateau of the Central Andes. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences25: 139–174.
3.
AlonsoRNJordanTETabbuttKT, et al. (1991) Giant evaporite belts of the Neogene central Andes. Geology19(4): 401.
4.
AlzérrecaHPrietoGLauraJ, et al. (2001) Assessment of Bofedales Carrying Capacity for Alpaca Grazing in the TPDS-Bolivian System. La Paz, Bolivia: Autoridad Binacional del lago Titicaca and Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo, 294.
5.
AshokARaniHPJayakumarKV (2021) Monitoring of dynamic wetland changes using NDVI and NDWI based landsat imagery. Remote Sensing Applications: Society and Environment23: 100547.
6.
CabelloJ (2021) Lithium brine production, reserves, resources and exploration in Chile: an updated review. Ore Geology Reviews.
7.
CaprilesJMTripcevichN (2016) The archaeology of Andean pastoralism.
8.
CasagrandaENavarroCGrauHR, et al. (2019) Interannual lake fluctuations in the Argentine Puna: relationships with its associated peatlands and climate change. Regional Environmental Change19(6): 1737–1750.
ChávezROChristieDAOleaM, et al. (2019) A multiscale productivity assessment of high Andean peatlands across the Chilean Altiplano using 31 years of Landsat imagery. Remote Sensing11(24): 2955.
11.
ChávezROMeseguer-RuizOOleaM, et al. (2023) Andean peatlands at risk? Spatiotemporal patterns of extreme NDVI anomalies, water extraction and drought severity in a large-scale mining area of Atacama, Northern Chile. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation116: 103138.
12.
ClarkeAJugginsSConleyD (2003) A 150-year reconstruction of the history of coastal eutrophication in Roskilde Fjord, Denmark. Marine Pollution Bulletin46(12): 1615–1618.
13.
de la FuenteAMeruaneCSuárezF (2021) Long-term spatiotemporal variability in high Andean wetlands in northern Chile. Science of the Total Environment756: 143830.
14.
De SilvaSL (1989) Altiplano-Puna volcanic complex of the central Andes. Geology17(12): 1102.
15.
DearingJADannRJLHayK, et al. (1996) Frequency-dependent susceptibility measurements of environmental materials. Geophysical Journal International124(1): 228–240.
16.
DelgadoFPavezA (2015) New insights into La Pacana caldera inner structure based on a gravimetric study (central Andes, Chile). Andean Geology42(3): 313–328.
17.
DeocampoDMJonesBF (2013) Geochemistry of saline lakes. Treatise on Geochemistry: Second Edition.
18.
EugsterHPHardieLA (1978) Saline lakes. In: LermanA (ed) Lakes. New York, NY: Springer.
19.
EvansMEHellerF (2003) Environmental magnetism: principles and applications of enviromagnetics. Academic Press, Vol. 86.
20.
EyzaguirreAGRojasFDLuceroVG (2024) El mercado de litio Desarrollo reciente y proyecciones al 2035 Actualización a Mayo 2023. Santiago, Chile: Chilean Copper Commission (COCHILCO).
21.
GaoBC (1996) Ndwi - a normalized difference water index for remote sensing of vegetation liquid water from space. Remote Sensing of Environment58(3): 257–266.
22.
GarciaEOttoM (2015) Caracterización ecohidrológica de humedales alto andinos usando imágenes de satélite multitemporales en la cabecera de cuenca del Río Santa, Ancash, Perú. Ecología Aplicada14(1-2): 115.
23.
García-SanzIHeine-FusterILuqueJA, et al. (2021) Limnological response from high-altitude wetlands to the water supply in the Andean Altiplano. Scientific Reports11(1): 7681.
24.
GarreaudRVuilleMClementAC (2003) The climate of the Altiplano: observed current conditions and mechanisms of past changes. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology194(1): 5–22.
GrosjeanMVan LeeuwenJFNVan Der KnaapWO (2001) A 22,000 14c year bp sediment and pollen record of climate change from Laguna Miscanti (23°s), northern Chile. Global and Planetary Change28(1–2): 35–51.
27.
GodfreyLÁlvarez‐AmadoF (2020) Volcanic and saline lithium inputs to the Salar de Atacama. Minerals10(2): 201.
28.
GrosjeanMCartajenaIGeyhMA, et al. (2003) From proxy data to paleoclimate interpretation: the mid-Holocene paradox of the Atacama Desert, northern Chile. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology194: 247–258.
29.
GrossePGuzmánSPetrinovicI (2017) Volcanes compuestos cenozoicos del noroeste argentino20th Congreso Geológico Argentino. San Miguel de Tucumán, 484–517. ISBN 978-987-42-6666-8. Argentina.
30.
GuerraLMartiniMAVogelH, et al. (2022) Microstratigraphy and palaeo environmental implications of a Late Quaternary high-altitude lacustrine record in the subtropical Andes. Sedimentology69(6): 2585–2614.
31.
HardieLA (1984) Evaporites: marine or non-marine?American Journal of Science284(3): 193–240.
32.
Heine-FusterILópez-AllendesCAránguiz-AcuñaA, et al. (2021) Differentiation of diatom guilds in extreme environments in the Andean Altiplano. Frontiers in Environmental Science9: 701970.
33.
HermosillaVVilaICopajaSV (2019) Lithium and boron of spring water and salt crust from Salar de Ascotán, southwestern Altiplano. Journal of the Chilean Chemical Society64(3): 4538–4541.
34.
HerreraCCustodioEChongG, et al. (2016) Groundwater flow in a closed basin with a saline shallow lake in a volcanic area: Laguna Tuyajto, northern Chilean Altiplano of the Andes. Science of the Total Environment541: 303–318.
35.
IzquierdoAFoguetJGrauH (2016) “Hidroecosistemas” de la Puna y Altos Andes de Argentina. Acta Geológica Lilloana28(2): 1–15.
36.
JerezBGarcésITorresR (2021) Lithium extractivism and water injustices in the Salar de Atacama, Chile: The colonial shadow of green electromobility. Political Geography87: 102382.
37.
JonesBRenautRW (1997) Formation of silica oncoids around geysers and hot springs at El Tatio, northern Chile. Sedimentology44(2): 287–304.
38.
JordanTENesterPLBlancoN, et al. (2010) Uplift of the Altiplano-Puna plateau: a view from the west. Tectonics29(5): 1–31.
39.
KaySMCoiraBLCaffePJ, et al. (2010) Regional chemical diversity, crustal and mantle sources and evolution of central Andean Puna plateau ignimbrites. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research198(1-2): 81–111.
40.
LiboironM (2021) Decolonizing geoscience requires more than equity and inclusion. Nature Geoscience14(12): 876–877.
41.
LindsayJMDe SilvaSTrumbullR, et al. (2001) La Pacana caldera, N. Chile: a re-evaluation of the stratigraphy and volcanology of one of the world’s largest resurgent calderas. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research106(1-2): 145–173.
42.
LobosGRebolledoNSandovalM, et al. (2018) Temporal gap between knowledge and conservation needs in high andean Anurans: the case of the Ascotán salt flat frog in Chile (Anura: Telmatobiidae: Telmatobius). South American Journal of Herpetology13(1): 33–43.
43.
NúñezLGrosjeanMCartajenaI (2002) Human occupations and climate change in the Puna de Atacama, Chile. Science298(5594): 821–824.
44.
NúñezLGrosjeanMCartajenaI (2005) Ocupaciones humanas y paleoambientes en la Puna de Atacama. San Pedro de Atacama: Instituto de investigaciones Arqueológicas y Museo, Universidad Católica del Norte.
45.
NúñezLLoyolaRCartajenaI, et al. (2018) Miscanti-1: human occupation during the arid mid-holocene event in the high-altitude lakes of the atacama desert, south America. Quaternary Science Reviews181: 109–122.
46.
OwenJRKempDHarrisJ, et al. (2022) Fast track to failure? Energy transition minerals and the future of consultation and consent. Energy Research & Social Science89: 102665.
47.
OwenJRKempDLechnerAM, et al. (2023) Energy transition minerals and their intersection with land-connected peoples. Nature Sustainability6(2): 203–211.
48.
PigatiJSRechJAQuadeJ, et al. (2014) Desert wetlands in the geologic record. Earth-Science Reviews.
49.
PizarroHRousseSRiquelmeR, et al. (2019) The origin of the magnetic record in eocene-miocene coarse-grained sediments deposited in hyper-arid/arid conditions: examples from the Atacama Desert. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology516: 322–335.
50.
PrietoMSalazarDValenzuelaMJ (2019) The dispossession of the San Pedro de Inacaliri river: political ecology, extractivism and archaeology. The Extractive Industries and Society6(2): 562–572.
51.
PueyoJDemergassoCEscuderoL, et al. (2021) On the origin of saline compounds in acidic salt flats (central Andean Altiplano). Chemical Geology574: 120155. DOI: 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2021.120155.
52.
RisacherFFritzB (2009) Origin of salts and brine evolution of Bolivian and Chilean salars. Aquatic Geochemistry15(1-2): 123–157.
53.
RisacherFAlonsoHSalazarC (1999) Geoquímica de aguas en cuencas cerradas: I, II y III Regiones, Chile. Santiago, Chile: Ministerio de Obras Públicas, Dirección General de Aguas. Technical Report No. 51.
54.
RisacherFAlonsoHSalazarC (2003) The origin of brines and salts in Chilean salars: a hydrochemical review. Earth-Science Reviews63(3-4): 249–293.
55.
RoyDPKovalskyyVZhangHK, et al. (2016) Characterization of Landsat-7 to Landsat-8 reflective wavelength and normalized difference vegetation index continuity. Remote Sensing of Environment185: 57–70.
56.
RusjanSMikošM (2010) Seasonal variability of diurnal in-stream nitrate concentration oscillations under hydrologically stable conditions. Biogeochemistry97(2): 123–140.
57.
SáezAGodfreyLVHerreraC, et al. (2016) Timing of wet episodes in Atacama desert over the last 15 ka. The groundwater discharge deposits (GWD) from Domeyko range at 25°S. Quaternary Science Reviews145: 82–93.
58.
SafeeqMFaresA (2016) Groundwater and surface water interactions in relation to natural and anthropogenic environmental changes. In: FaresA (ed) Emerging Issues in Groundwater Resources. Advances in Water Security.. Springer, Cham Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32008-3_11.
59.
Sarricolea EspinozaPRomero AravenaH (2015) Variabilidad y cambios climáticos observados y esperados en el Altiplano del norte de Chile. Revista de Geografía, Norte Grande(62): 169–183. DOI: 10.4067/s0718-34022015000300010.
60.
SarricoleaPHerrera-OssandonMMeseguer-RuizÓ (2017) Climatic regionalisation of continental Chile. Journal of Maps13(2): 66–73.
61.
SchittekKKockSTLückeA, et al. (2016) A high-altitude peatland record of environmental changes in the NW Argentine Andes (24°S) over the last 2100 years. Climate of the Past12(5): 1165–1180.
62.
SchmidtHPaschkeIFreyerD, et al. (2011) Water channel structure of bassanite at high air humidity: crystal structure of CaSO4·0.625H2O. Acta Crystallographica Section B67(6): 467–475.
63.
SqueoFAWarnerBGAravenaR, et al. (2006) Bofedales: high altitude peatlands of the central Andes. Revista Chilena de Historia Natural79(2).
64.
StoertzGEEricksenGE (1974) Geology of Salars in Northern Chile. Geological survey professional paper.
65.
StreckerMRAlonsoRNBookhagenB, et al. (2007) Tectonics and climate of the southern central Andes. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences35: 747–787.
66.
TapiaJMurrayJOrmacheaM, et al. (2019) Origin, distribution, and geochemistry of arsenic in the Altiplano-Puna plateau of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Perú. Science of the Total Environment678: 309–325.
67.
TapiaJMurrayJOrmachea-MuñozM, et al. (2022) The unique Altiplano-Puna plateau: environmental perspectives. Journal of South American Earth Sciences115: 103725.
VandervoortDSJordanTEZeitlerPK, et al. (1995) Chronology of internal drainage development and uplift, southern Puna plateau, Argentine central Andes. Geology23(2): 145.
70.
VilaIHermosillaVGonzalezF, et al. (2020) Macroinvertebrate community structure in an extreme altiplanic environment from Chile: the Ascotán salt pan. Global Ecology and Conservation24: e01260.
71.
VillagránCCastroV (1997) Etnobotánica y manejo ganadero de las vegas, bofedales y quebradas en el Loa Superior, Andes de Antofagasta, Segunda Región, Chile. Chungará29(2): 275–304.
72.
VillarroelEKMollinedoPLPDomicAI, et al. (2014) Local management of Andean wetlands in Sajama National Park, Bolivia. Mountain Research and Development34(4): 356–368.
73.
YagerKPrietoMMenesesRI (2021) Reframing pastoral practices of bofedal management to increase the resilience of Andean water towers. Mountain Research and Development41(4): 1–9.
74.
Zorogasúa-CruzPQuirozRGaratuza-PayanJ (2012) Dinámica de los bofedales en el altiplano peruano-boliviano. Revista Latinoamericana de Recursos Naturales8(2): 63–75.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
