Salt lake in high altitude Peru is a result of sea level uplift eons of years ago?

Question

While scientists spend time, efforts and money with high risks researching deep sea for clues of universe. Why don't they try Peru's dried out salt lake which has respective life span like others in Atlantic or Pacific or even more? I think there are still lots of fossil deposits in good preservation there at the bottom of this salt lake!

Answer 1

Salt lakes are not the result of uplift from sea level.

There are many salt lakes around the world, such as Salt Lake, Utah; Pyramid Lake, Nevada; Lake Manyara, Tanzania; Aral Sea, Russia; and several in the Andes. Their common feature is that they are in a negative water balance, meaning that the rate of precipitation is less than the rate of evaporation. Therefore, water coming in to the lakes by rivers evaporates before it ever reaches the sea. A little bit of salt in the rivers is concentrated by the evaporative action - just like salt in the oceans but in a much more concentrated fashion.

Hope that helps!