Salar del Hombre Muerto (transl. Salt Pan of the Dead Man) is a salt pan in Argentina, in the Antofagasta de la Sierra Department on the border between the Salta and Catamarca Provinces. It covers an area of 600 square kilometres (230 sq mi) and is in part covered by debris. During the Pleistocene it was sometimes a lake, but today only parts of the salt pan are covered by perennial water bodies; its major tributary is the Río de los Patos. Part of the Lithium Triangle of salars, Salar del Hombre Muerto is one of the world's most important sources of lithium, an element crucial for manufacturing lithium-ion batteries, which are very important in renewable energy technology and electric cars.
