Published on: January 1, 2024
SALTON SEA LITHIUM RESERVE
SALTON SEA LITHIUM RESERVE
NEWS – U.S. Department of Energy recently discovered the world’s largest Lithium reserve beneath California’s Salton Sea
SALTON SEA
- Shallow saline lake
- Southeastern part of the U.S. state of California – in the Colorado Desert
- One of the largest inland seas in California
- Remnant of prehistoric Lake Cahuilla
- Accidentally created in the early 20th century when the Colorado River breached a canal system and flowed into the Salton Sink, a below-sea-level area in the California desert which continued for about two years, creating the present-day Salton Sea
- Surrounded by the Salton Trough, a geological depression
- Has a high salinity level, much higher than that of the Pacific Ocean
LITHIUM:
- Soft, silvery-white metal
- Alkali metals group of the periodic table of the elements
- Features: lowest density + lightest of the solid elements + reacts vigorously with water
- Body-centered cubic crystal structure.
- Found combined in small amounts in igneous rock in brine deposits
- Important in rechargeable batteriesfor mobile phones, laptops, digital cameras, and electric vehicles