This Envisat image, acquired 7 May 2008, features salt flats in the Department of Potosi in southwest Bolivia, near the crest of the Andes Mountains. Some 40 000 years ago, this area was part of a giant prehistoric lake that dried out, leaving behind two salt flats, the Salar de Uyuni (the lower white area) and the Salar de Coipasa (visible above Uyuni), as well as two modern lakes, Poopó (visible in green) and Uru Uru.