Laguna del Carbón

High school (ages 12+)
Geography

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Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/laguna-del-carbn

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. How high is Laguna del Carbón?105 meters (344 feet) below mean sea level
2. What is the location?Corpen Aike Department, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina
3. What is the geographical designation?Lowest point in the Americas; seventh-lowest point on Earth
4. Why is Laguna del Carbón so low?It lies in a deep depression called the Gran Bajo de San Julián, formed by tectonic forces and a dry climate that lets water evaporate and leave the basin empty.
5. How does the lake become salty?Because the basin has no outlet, water evaporates in the hot Patagonian steppe, concentrating minerals and making the lake hypersaline.

Endorheic Basin: A closed drainage system where water accumulates and does not flow to the ocean, leading to mineral concentration.
Hypersaline: Possessing an extremely high concentration of salt, far exceeding that of normal seawater.
Paleobiogeography: The study of the geographic distribution of extinct organisms and the historical factors that influenced it.
Mesozoic Era: The geological era from about 252 to 66 million years ago, known as the age of dinosaurs.