Theory 35/Salt flats/Threshold lens
Pans Form on an Evaporation Threshold
The claim
A salt pan forms only above a threshold in the ratio of evaporation to inflow, so a basin with modest inflow stays a lake.
01Mechanism
A pan requires the water balance to be negative on average; above the threshold the basin dries each year and salts accumulate.
02Prediction
Pan formation should track the ratio.
03Refutation
Pan formation tracking salinity would remove the water balance.