It is part of a long and wide basin between the Western Cordillera with its volcanoes and the Cordillera Domeyko which has formed through tectonic processes in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic including block faulting and was then filled by Cenozoic deposits. In the Western Cordillera, the volcano Llullaillaco reaches a height of while the average elevation of the depression amounts to ; Llullaillaco is one of the highest volcanoes in the world. The basin has a surface area of about ; to the east of Salar de Punta Negra lie the Pampa El Salado, the Pampa San Eulogio and the Pampa del Chino.