salt pan

an undrained natural depression, as a crater or tectonic basin, in which the evaporation of water leaves a deposit of salt.

Origin of salt pan

First recorded in 1485–95

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Up jumped Nqong from his bath in the salt-pan and shouted, 'Yes, I will!'
Just So Stories
Rudyard Kipling
To avoid the salt-pan, we turned to the right, so as to skirt its eastern side.
Adventures in Africa
W.H.G. Kingston
Anderson struggled to his feet wearily and then went down to the salt-pan.
The Moving Finger
Mary Gaunt
Then there is the fish-pond to make, and also a salt-pan to cut out of the rock.
Masterman Ready
Captain Frederick Marryat
In every salt-pan in the country there is a spring of water on one side.
Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa
David Livingstone

salt pan in Science

A small, undrained, shallow depression in which water accumulates, evaporates, and deposits salt.

A small lake of brackish water occupying such a depression.