Fig 1.
(A) Map of the Salar de Llamara, located in the Atacama Desert, northern Chile. (B) Location map of the Puquios; Puquios 1 (area: 1760 m2, fetch: 17 m, maximum depth: 50 cm) and Puquio 4 (area: 1485 m2, fetch: 47 m, maximum depth: 80 cm) are the focus of this study. The weather micro station (purple symbol) and temperature loggers (red symbols) are shown in in Fig 1B. Background maps (A) and (B) were created using ArcGIS Pro.
Table 1.
General trends in stratification of brine chemistry of Puquio 1 and 4, November 2019. Shown here are p-values from Mann Whitney U-tests assessing stratification of measured parameters (Temperature, Electrical Conductivity (EC), δ18O and δ2H values). Bold font with asterisks indicates statistical significance in the evaluation of water column stratification (p < 0.05).
Fig 2.
Local wind speed and environmental conditions measured using loggers installed on the weather micro station.
Wind roses showing wind speed and wind direction the Salar de Llamara on November 12 (A, B) and November 13 (C, D). Morning conditions are shown in A and C, afternoon conditions are shown in B and D. Wind roses showing afternoon conditions from both days indicate an increase in wind speed as well as a more consistent (NW) direction.
Fig 3.
Plots of the temperature differential between surface and bottom waters of Puquio 1 (green circles) and Puquio 4 (blue squares) during the experimental period.
Temperature differential was calculated by subtracting values of surface temperature from bottom temperatures measured by in situ loggers. Air temperature is shown in black, and grey shading highlight periods where wind speeds increased above 5 m/s as measured by the air temperature logger installed on the weather micro station.
Fig 4.
Electrical conductivity in the surface (top) and bottom (bottom) brines from Puquio 1 in both the morning (‘AM’, left) and afternoon (‘PM’, right).
Measurements were collected on November 12th, 2019.
Fig 5.
Electrical conductivity in the surface (top) and bottom (bottom) brines from Puquio 4 in both the morning (‘AM’, left) and afternoon (‘PM’, right).
Measurements were collected on November 13th, 2019.
Fig 6.
δ34S values in the surface (top) and bottom (bottom) brines from Puquio 1 in both the morning (left) and afternoon (right). Measurements were collected on November 12th, 2019.
Fig 7.
δ34S values in the surface (top) and bottom (bottom) brines from Puquio 4 in both the morning (left) and afternoon (right). Measurements were collected on November 13th, 2019.
Fig 8.
δ2H values in the surface (top) and bottom (bottom) brines from Puquio 1 in both the morning (left) and afternoon (right).
Measurements were collected on November 12th, 2019.
Fig 9.
δ2H values in the surface (top) and bottom (bottom) brines from Puquio 4 in both the morning (left) and afternoon (right).
Measurements were collected on November 13th, 2019.