Salina de la Laguna Verde, Salt lake complex at 4100 m in Tinogasta, Catamarca, Argentina.

Salina de la Laguna Verde is a complex of three lakes and three salt flats located in a closed basin in the Argentine Andes within Catamarca province. The green tint of the water comes from its mineral content, and the white salt expanses stretch across a flat, high-altitude terrain.

The basin lies at 4,100 m in western Tinogasta department, Catamarca, near the Paso de San Francisco and the higher, roadless Paso Tres Quebradas (4,867 m) toward Chile's Atacama region. Its six linked segments run north to south over some forty kilometres, from Laguna Norte and Salina Norte through Salina Central and the turquoise Laguna Verde to Salina Sur and the dark caramel Laguna Verde Sur. Fed by glacier melt, the lakes vary in extent, and rare heavy rains can flood the sandy stretches.

Andean flamingos are the main inhabitants of the salt flats and lagoons, feeding on brine shrimp. The shrimp get their pink colour from single-celled pink algae that thrive in the salt flats, using pigments from photosynthesis, including carotenoids, helped by the extreme UV index at this altitude. The birds' pink colour thus traces back to the algae.

Access to this site requires careful planning since the location is remote and difficult to reach. Summer months offer the best visiting window due to milder temperatures and better road conditions for travel.

The basin floor lies at 4,100 m, and the surrounding chain includes Nevado Ojos del Salado (6,891 m), the highest volcano on Earth, plus Monte Pissis (6,792 m) and Cerro Bonete Chico (6,759 m). The Laguna Verde Sur, despite its name, holds dark brown or caramel-coloured water.