BEIJING -- China has built a database on salt lakes and environmental sciences, according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Tuesday.

Creation of the database began in 2012. The CAS Qinghai Institute of Salt Lakes says the database collects information on the environment, resources exploration,images and multimedia archives of salt lakes across the country.

The database has more than 570GB of data, including information on salt lake areas, weather, satellite images, ecological environment and lake types.

The data sharing will be supported by the database and has basic information on almost 1,000 salt lakes nationwide.

Salt lakes in China's western regions have inorganic mineral resources, such as kalium, lithium, boron, rubidium and cesium.

In the future, more databases will be created to provide salt lake information services for local governments, the salt lake industry and the public.