Salar de Pintados, Salt flat in Tarapacá Region, Chile.

Salar de Pintados is a salt flat featuring extensive white salt crusts and various mineral deposits in the Tarapacá Region. The formation spreads across a wide area at elevation where dry conditions and intense evaporation shape the landscape.

Luis Risopatrón's 1924 Diccionario Jeográfico de Chile records the Salar de Pintados at about 975 m, north of the Salar de Bellavista, noting borate of lime and aluminium sulphate and groundwater tapped for the village of Pintados. The Quebrada de Pazos, which drains into its northwest end, had a shaft dug in 1877 that supplied abundant water until it was silted up by the 1884 flood.

Luis Risopatrón's 1924 Diccionario Jeográfico de Chile records that the groundwater just below the salt crust of Salar de Pintados is relatively good and is captured for domestic use in the village that shares the name. The same entry notes the flat yields calcium borate and aluminium sulphate.

The salt flat lies at about 980 m, south of La Tirana, within the Pampa del Tamarugal basin; rainfall on the pampa averages only 0.8 mm a year while potential evaporation reaches 2000 mm. Groundwater sits just below the salt crust and is tapped for the village of Pintados. Approach from the La Tirana side and carry water and sun protection.

Luis Risopatrón noted in his 1924 geographic dictionary that the groundwater just below the salt crust is relatively good and is drawn for domestic use in the village of Pintados. The Quebrada de Pazos, a dry ravine of alternating clay and sand layers, drains into the salt flat's northwest end.