The lands around the lower course of the Dulce and Mar Chiquita are wetlands, populated by a large biodiversity (especially aquatic birds).

From the southwest the lake receives the flow of the Primero/Suquía and the Segundo/Xanaes rivers, as well as several streams; these inflows vary greatly from dry to rainy seasons.

The salinity of Mar Chiquita is quite variable, with measured extremes ranging from 250 g/L in times of low water levels to around 40 g/L in very humid years, such as in the decade following 1977, when record rainfall flooded much of Miramar, Córdoba.

Mar Chiquita is slowly diminishing in volume due to increased evaporation and elevation of its bottom, and is ultimately bound to turn into a salt flat.

"[3] The lake was formerly home to a growing tourism industry, and was the site of the Gran Hotel Viena [es], a luxurious, lakefront establishment which functioned from 1945 to 1980, and has been the center of numerous mysteries and controversies.