Lithium Triangle: Difference between revisions

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[[File:Triangulo del lito.png|thumb|The Lithium Triangle within the [[Arid Diagonal]] of South America|250px]]

The '''Lithium Triangle''' ({{langx|es|Triángulo del Litio}}) is a region of the [[Andes]] that is rich in [[lithium]] reserves, encompassed by the borders of [[Argentina]], [[Bolivia]], and [[Chile]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Anlauf |first1=Axel |editor-last1=Pichler |editor-first1=Melanie|editor-last2=Staritz |editor-first2=Cornelia |editor-last3=Küblböck |editor-first3=Karin |editor-last4=Plank |editor-first4=Christina |editor-last5=Raza |editor-first5=Werner |editor-last6=Ruiz Peyré |editor-first6=Fernando |date=2016 |chapter=Greening the imperial mode of living? Socio- ecological (in)justice, electromobility, and lithium mining in Argentina |title=Fairness and Justice in Natural Resource Politics }}</ref> The lithium in the triangle is concentrated in various [[salt pan (geology)|salt pans]] that exist along the [[Atacama Desert]] and [[Arid Diagonal|neighboring arid areas]]. The largest areas three main salt pans that define its vertices are the [[Salar de Uyuni]] in Bolivia, [[Salar de Atacama]] in Chile, and [[Salar del Hombre Muerto]] in Argentina. Of these, the core of [[Salar de Atacama]] in [[Chile]] has the highest concentration of lithium (0.15% by weight) among all world's brine sources.<ref name=Sizematters/>{{efn-ua|The cause for the high contrationcontraction of lithium in the brines of Salar de Atacama is not fully clear as various competing hypothesis exists.<ref name=udec>{{Cite book |title=¿Cómo se forman las aguas ricas en litio en el Salar de Atacama? |last=Álvarez Amado |first=Fernanda |date= |publisher=[[University of Concepción|Universidad de Concepción]] |year=2023 |trans-title=How does the lithium-rich waters of Salar de Atacama form?|series=Serie Comunicacional CRHIAM |last2=Poblete González |first2=Camila |last3=Matte Estrada |first3=Daniel |last4=Campos Quiroz |first4=Dilan |last5=Tardani |first5=Daniele |last6=Gutiérrez |first6=Leopoldo |last7=Arumí |first7=José Luis|language=es}}</ref> It is suggested that high [[geothermal gradient]]s and altitude differences in the hydrological basin enhances the [[Leaching (chemistry)|leaching]] of lithium from rocks and minerals.<ref name=udec/> The volcanoes east of Salar de Atacama may have a role in contaminating the incoming streams with salts.<ref name=Borgel1983>{{cite book |last=Börgel Olivares |first=Reinaldo |date=1983 |title=Geografía de Chile|volume=Tomo II: Geomorfología |publisher=[[Instituto Geográfico Militar]] |pages=59–62 |language=es}}</ref> Some litium-rich waters entering Salar de Atacama are thought to have been previously concentrated at salt lakes at higher elevation.<ref name=udec/> An important factor for the further concentration and preservation of lithium in the brines of the salt flat is the high [[evapotranspiration]] in the area which is related to the extreme aridity and the high solar radiation in the area.<ref name=udec/>}}

The shape of the area of interest for lithium resources in salt pans is however not a triangle but more of a crescent starting with [[Salar de Surire]] (19° S) in the north and ending with [[Salar de Maricunga]] (27° S) in the south.<ref name=Sizematters>{{Cite journal|title=Brine grades in Andean salars: When basin size matters A review of the Lithium Triangle|journal=[[Earth-Science Reviews]]|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001282522100115X|last1=López Steinmetz|first1=Romina Lucrecia|year=2021|doi=10.1016/j.earscirev.2021.103615|last2=Salvi|first2=Stefano|volume=217|bibcode=2021ESRv..21703615L |s2cid=233846211 }}</ref> Because of this it has been proposed to rename the area '''Lithium Crescent'''.<ref name=Sizematters/>