The climate is severe on the plateaus, hot towards the Caspian, and dry everywhere.
The elevated plateaus between these ranges are semiarid and inhospitable, and are covered with extensive saline basins, which become lagoons in the wet season and morasses or dry saltpans in the dry season.
On the plateaus large numbers of cattle, goats and sheep are reared.
The flora of Argentina should be studied according to natural zones corresponding to the physical divisions of the country - the rich tropical and sub-tropical regions of the north, the treeless pampas of the centre, the desert steppes of the south, and the arid plateaus of the north-west.
The largest of all, Great Salt Lake, is maintained by the waters of the Wasatch and associated plateaus.
