Beach holiday / 22.07.2024

Atacama Desert: “Amazing and Mysterious. The driest desert in the world: photo and description Due to the action of which current the Atacama Desert was formed

In the central part of the state of Chile there is a desert Atacama, which is the driest and highest desert in the world. The altitude at which it is located is more than 4000

meters above sea level. The desert stretches to the south for 1000 km, and its area is 105 thousand km 2, which is equivalent to the area of a country like Iceland. Atacama considered the oldest desert in the world. Its age is approximately from 20 to 40 million years. For comparison, the age of the Namib Desert is approximately 5 million years, and the Sahara is from 3 to 4 million years. The Atacama Desert is important for Chile's economy because it contains deposits of copper and many other minerals. Sodium nitrate is also being mined.

Atacama Desert Climate

The average air temperature in the desert ranges from 0 to 25 degrees, but can drop to minus 15. Therefore, the Atacama is one of the few deserts with a relatively cool climate. The amount of precipitation there is approximately 10 mm per year. In some places it rains once every five years, and there are places where it hasn't rained for about 500 years! Atacama has the lowest air humidity recorded - 0%.

Flora and fauna

The flora and fauna of the Atacama Desert is quite scarce. However, even in such harsh conditions there is life too. Among the plants, cacti were the most numerous. Some of them reach a height of about two meters. Among the animals here you can find typical representatives of the desert fauna: snakes and lizards, which consume the moisture necessary for life from the formed fogs. In the national parks of the Atacama Desert, guanacos (wild llamas) live, and at night, desert fennec foxes go hunting, which can go without water for a long time, obtaining liquid from meat, leaves and berries. And pink flamingos thrive on salt lakes, feeding on algae and small crustaceans. By the way, there are scientists’ assumptions that these lakes are the remnants of an ancient ocean.

Valley of Geysers

In the east of the Atacama Desert, the surface gradually rises and turns into a plateau called the Antiplano. It is home to the El Tatio geyser valley, which is considered the largest geyser field in South America and the third in the world. Geysers begin their activity early in the morning and become silent by 9-10 o'clock. Some of them emit a mixture of water, sulfur and minerals to a height of up to 30 meters! The spectacle taking place takes travelers hundreds of millions of years ago, when the Earth was just being born and volcanoes were smoking everywhere, and columns of boiling water were thrown out from the bowels of our planet.

Moon Valley

Another interesting place in the Atacama Desert is the Valley of the Moon. It is located east of the village of San Pedro de Atacama. The landscape of this area is similar to the surface of the Earth's satellite. The Valley of the Moon was formed due to temperature differences and local winds blowing across formations of salt, sand and gravel. These conditions created strangely shaped figures in this area, which look especially fantastic after dark. Locals call them guards of the valley, who have their own names and legends. The most famous of them: Amphitheater, Coyote Stone, Three Marys and others. The Indians considered them landmarks for the souls of ancestors who left this world. The Valley of the Moon attracts many tourists and cinematographers with its unusual appearance. Some science fiction films were filmed in these places.

Among the man-made attractions of the Atacama Desert, it is worth noting an unusual sculpture called the hand of the desert. Its opening occurred on March 28, 1992. The sculpture represents a human palm of the left hand, protruding from the ground and as if begging for help. The author is Chilean Mario Irarrazabal. In his work, he wanted to show helplessness, loneliness and human injustice. The height of the sculpture is 11 meters. It is made of cement, and the base is a steel frame.

Tourist information

The tourist center is the village of San Pedro de Atacama. It is located in the very center of the Atacama Desert and is where all tourist routes begin. Here, travelers are provided with all the amenities and entertainment. Cozy cafes, souvenir shops, hotels for every taste, car rentals and travel agencies offering desert tours. You can get to the village of San Pedro de Atacama from El Loa International Airport, which is located in the town of Calama. There are buses and minibuses running from the airport to the village.

Atacama(Spanish: Desierto de Atacama) - desert, located on the west coast of the South American continent, in the north, between the Pacific Ocean in the west and the Andes in the east, extending towards the south for 1000 km. The desert territory borders on Bolivia in the east, on Bolivia in the north, and is washed by the Pacific Ocean in the west.

The total area of its territory is about 105 thousand km². On the coastal part of the desert there are large Chilean ports - (Spanish: Arica) and (Spanish: Iquique).

Before the Second Pacific War (1879-1883), this territory belonged to.

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Historical reference

In the 16th century, during the period of the most active colonization of South America by Spain, significant changes occurred in the life of the Atacama. A powerful fortress, built in the eastern part of the desert, on the site of the city (Spanish: San Pedro de Atacama), became one of the main centers of confrontation.

Despite the determined resistance of the Indians, the Spaniards managed to take possession of Chilean lands.

The conquistadors were primarily driven by mercantile interests, but for 300 years (between the 16th and 19th centuries) the Spaniards failed to discover valuable deposits here, as in neighboring regions.

Until the 19th century a vast area of desert remained virtually untouched. After the liberation of South American countries from the rule of the Spanish crown, the situation in the vicinity of Atacama changed dramatically, and the question of dividing the territory immediately arose. Since there were no definite boundaries between the regions, Chile, Bolivia and Peru began to wage a fierce debate over the right to claim the largest piece of desert. When rich deposits of saltpeter were discovered here, this “added fuel” to the increasingly flaring dispute, which could not be resolved peacefully - the conflict resulted in the Second Pacific War (1879-1883), also called "Saltpeter War", which ended in favor of Chile.

In the 80s XIX century Mining villages began to grow here in large numbers. The saltpeter boom continued almost until the middle of the 20th century, when synthetic analogues of this valuable mineral fertilizer appeared. Synthetic nitrates, invented in Germany, significantly undermined the production of natural nitrate in Chile in the late 1930s and early 1940s. If previously the production of saltpeter accounted for almost 50% of the gross national product in the country, over several decades its production was practically reduced to zero. Only in some villages is mining of nitrates still ongoing; the rest of the villages have been closed. Today, the Atacama Desert is dotted with approximately 170 abandoned mining towns.

"Hand of the Desert"

However, the Chilean economy has not lost interest in Atacama - copper mining has intensified here.

Climatic features, nature

This region is considered the driest on Earth, 50 times drier than Death Valley in California: there has been no significant precipitation for more than 4 centuries, and the river beds have been dry for more than 120 thousand years. In some places in the region, rain occurs once every few decades. For example, the average rainfall in the Chilean region (Spanish: Antofagasta) is only 1 mm per year. Atacama has the lowest air humidity on Earth - 0%. This phenomenon is caused by the influence of the Peruvian Current, which cools the lower layers of air and prevents rain from falling.

Atacama is not a typical desert; it does not have the scorching heat that is typical for most deserts; it has a fairly cool average daily temperature, which ranges from 0°C to +25°C. Average summer temperatures on the coast (January) are about +20°C, winter (July) – about +14°C. In winter, fog is often observed in some areas of the area; it is characterized by sandy and rocky dunes, as well as salt marshes. Rivers flowing down from the Andes Mountains to the eastern ends of the desert erode salt marshes, forming salt lakes, which dry up under the hot rays of the sun, creating a thick salt blanket. Over time, this sparkling cover is destroyed, forming lagoons - favorite habitats of numerous flocks of flamingos and coots.

Most of the desert territory is located in the mountains. The local mountains, reaching a height of 7 thousand m, do not have glaciers. Due to the high location above sea level and the rarefied atmosphere, high intensity of solar radiation is observed here.

Altiplano

The eastern part of the Atacama, gradually rising, passes into the Chilean (Spanish Altiplano; average altitude 4 thousand m above sea level), one of the most beautiful regions of the country. With zero humidity in the desert, the tropical rainy season occurs on the plateau in January - February.

The flora and fauna of the Altiplano are rich and varied. Vicuña (a type of llama) and viscacha (a type of chinchilla) are found here. The flora includes such rare plants as Llareta, better known as the cushion plant, and kenoa or quinoa, a type of tree that is the tallest in the world.

Flora and fauna

The vegetation of the lowland desert region is quite sparse. But, despite the unusually harsh conditions, more than 160 species of small cacti grow here. In places there are thorny bushes, lichens and blue-green algae. The oases (narrow strips of gallery forests) consist of acacia trees, mesquite trees and, of course, a number of varieties of cacti.

The Atacama Highlands are home to many natural National Parks, including Isluga National Park(Spanish: Parque Nacional de Isluga) and National Park, Lauca Biosphere Reserve (Spanish: Parque Nacional de Lauca).

The fauna of the desert is extremely small, mainly reptiles and various insects. The local inhabitants obtain the moisture necessary for life from the fogs.

In some local areas, life is almost impossible - even scorpions and ticks are absent there. However, coastal cliffs become habitat for large colonies of fish-eating birds.

Minerals

The interior of the desert contains rich deposits of copper, and there are also the largest deposits of sodium nitrate, nitrate, table salt and borax. Between Bolivia and Chile since the beginning of the 19th century. There is an ongoing dispute over the region's valuable resources.

Abnormal dryness

One of the reasons why the Atacama lacks sufficient rainfall is due to a phenomenon called " rain shadow"(English: Rain shadow). In the path of humid tropical air blowing from the east, carrying precipitation into the jungles of South America, there is a powerful obstacle - the eastern mountain slopes. Air currents cool and fall in the form of rain. The same Andes, in which the deep-flowing river (the largest river in the world, fed by abundant tropical rains) originates, is the reason that there is almost never precipitation in the Atacama.

It’s a paradox, but the driest and wettest places on the planet coexist side by side, in fact, “side by side”!

All the moisture that desert inhabitants can count on comes here in the form of thick fogs. To collect water, residents of this region have long used a local invention - unique “mist eliminators”, which are cylindrical containers as tall as a man.

The cylinder walls are made of nylon threads, on which the mist condenses and through which water flows into the tank. This device allows you to collect up to 20 liters per day. water completely suitable for drinking.

Population

Surprisingly, today the driest desert is home to more than 1 million people, who are concentrated in oasis cities, coastal villages, mining towns and fishing villages. In the coastal part of the Atacama, with perfectly clear skies, there are international astronomy bases. In its northern regions, farmers grow olives, tomatoes and cucumbers, extracting water for irrigation from deep aquifers. A chain of snow-covered mountain peaks provides moisture to the valleys and oases, allowing the indigenous Indians to grow crops and breed llamas and alpacas.

Atacama Desert Attractions

Today, the most famous of the Atacama cities is, founded by the Spaniards in 1577. It is located in the very center of the desert, at an altitude of 2 thousand meters above sea level, the population is 5 thousand people. The town is a convenient starting point for tourists wishing to experience local wonders.

The main symbol of Atacama is “” (Spanish: Mario Irarrazabal).

Another striking attraction is the so-called "Desert Bloom", which occurs when humid air masses from the Pacific Ocean bring long-awaited moisture here. Typically, “blooming” occurs in September-October. When the desert blooms, this fantastic spectacle amazes with its riot of colors, diversity and uniqueness of plants, about 200 species of which are not found anywhere else in the world.

Desert Bloom

To the east of San Pedro de Atacama there is one of the most amazing places on the globe - the Valley of the Moon (Spanish: Valle de la Luna), the landscape of which resembles the surface of the Moon. Unique formations of salt, stone and sand, blown by the wind for centuries, have acquired bizarre shapes. Amazing salt figures, especially fantastic looking in the moonlight, are considered guardians of the valley.

Moon Valley (Valle de la Luna)

Curious facts

The Atacama, without any exaggeration, is the driest and oldest desert on our planet. According to scientists, its age is 20 - 40 million years. The age of the Sahara, for comparison, is “only” 3-4 million years.
It stretches along the Pacific coast for a thousand km, while its width ranges from 100 to 200 km. Its coastal part is sandwiched between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes.
The oldest desert on the planet, Atacama is also the highest desert on Earth, its coastal zone is located at an altitude of about 600 m above sea level.
The cities (Spanish: Calama), Arica, Iquique, Antofagasta and San Pedro de Atacama (Spanish: San Pedro de Atacama) are the main tourist centers in northern Chile, from where you can go on an unforgettable excursion.
Local winds, despite the proximity of the ocean, do not contain moisture. This happens because not far from the Chilean coast there is cold water flowing from Antarctica. Air masses entering the zone of its influence quickly cool. As a result, they are unable to lift moisture from the surface of the water. They just don't have enough warmth.
On May 19, 2010, an incredible thing happened - real snow fell in Atacama! The snowdrifts piled up so much that they disrupted road traffic, communications and power supplies.
Since the desert came into the possession of Chile, small working villages began to grow around the saltpeter deposits. They can still be seen today. But now they are abandoned and are called “Ghost Towns”.
From the point of view of water procedures, Laguna Cejar (Spanish: Laguna Cejar) is very interesting. This alpine lake is a 40% saline solution, and swimming in it feels like swimming in the Israeli Dead Sea - the water holds itself.
In the most remote part Los Flamencos National Reserve(Spanish: Reserva Nacional Los Flamencos - “Flamingo Reserve”; 4.6 thousand m above sea level) is the salt lake Tara (Spanish: Lago de Tara), where a wonderful bird, the flamingo, lives.
Those who like to slide down sand dunes on a board also prefer to come here. This fairly new sporting activity is called sandboarding.
The seeds and bulbs of numerous plants can remain in “waiting mode” for rain for many years. To restore their vital functions, they only need 15 mm of moisture per year.
Of the 160 species of cacti growing here, more than half (90 species) are endemic.
The American Space Agency NASA, as part of a project to study the surface of Mars, has been using the impassable dry areas of the “Moon Valley” since 2003 to test its “Mars rovers.”
A particularly interesting place to visit in the region is the valley of geysers El Tatio (Spanish: El Tatio). The South American Andes remain active to this day. Groundwater is heated by hot magma and powerfully pushed from the depths of the earth to the surface.
Located at an altitude of 4200 m above sea level, El Tatio is the largest geyser field in the Southern Hemisphere and the 3rd largest in the world after Yellowstone National Park (USA) and the “Valley of Geysers” (Russia, Kamchatka ).
The lack of water makes it very difficult for people to live in the Atacama, but the extreme dryness also has its advantages. The desert has rich deposits of saltpeter. In the past, it served as a raw material for the production of necessary mineral fertilizers and explosives. This is the only place in the world where its remains remain. This is because saltpeter easily dissolves in water. And the dry climate of the area is ideal for its preservation.
There are rich deposits of copper ore here. In the town

The Atacama Desert is one of the driest on Earth. There are areas here where it has never rained. There is nothing living here: not a blade of grass, not a bush, but still, no matter what, this place attracts many tourists and travelers. What is so attractive about it?

The world's driest Atacama Desert originates from the border of Peru and Chile and extends 1000 km in length towards the south. It is located along the coast of Chile in close proximity to the Pacific Ocean - the largest body of water on the planet. Most of the desert is at very high altitude in the mountains. The total area is about 105,000 km2. This is roughly the size of New York State in the United States. It is 50 times drier than Death Valley in California. The incredibly dry desert receives an average of 10mm of rain per year. In many places there is no rain for several years. Some places have not seen rainfall for 400 years. Solar radiation is very intense due to the high altitude and thin atmosphere. The possibility of life in some places is zero, there are no ticks or scorpions, predators and their victims. Complete sterility.

Many will be surprised to learn that more than a million people live in the Atacama Desert today (according to the influential publication National Geographic). They are concentrated in coastal towns, mining towns, fishing villages and oasis towns. International teams of astronomers are located in the coastal desert and explore outer space thanks to perfectly clear skies. Farmers in the extreme northern regions of the desert grow olives, tomatoes and cucumbers using drip irrigation systems, replenishing water shortages using deep aquifers. A chain of snow-covered conical volcanoes feed valleys, oases and salt lagoons with melt water, thanks to which the descendants of pre-Columbian civilizations (mainly the Aymara and Atacameño Indians) were able to somehow adapt to living in such harsh conditions, graze herds of llamas, alpacas and grow crops.

Unlike typical deserts such as the Sahara in Africa or the Mojave in California, the Atacama actually has a fairly cool average daily temperature, ranging between 0°C and 25°C. Although the Atacama is the driest desert in the world, it is This does not mean that there is never any precipitation here. The warming effect over the Pacific Ocean near the equator is changing the weather around the world and even in places like the world's driest desert, rain is likely.

Why is the Atacama the driest desert in the world?

Territories that receive less than 250 mm of precipitation per year qualify as a desert. The Atacama Desert receives an average of 10 mm per year. Why is it that among all the driest places on earth, Atacama is the driest of all. The answer suggests itself - it doesn’t rain there. So why isn't it raining? If we answer this question, we can explain why the Atacama is the driest desert on the planet.

There are two main reasons why an area turns into a desert. Any one of these reasons is sufficient to cause the formation of a desert; the Atacama has all two.

One of the reasons why the Atacama does not receive enough rainfall is due to a phenomenon called the rain shadow. The warm, moist tropical air that blows from the east and brings rainfall to the South American jungles encounters an obstacle on the eastern slopes of the Andes. The mountains are so high that the air currents cool, condense, and rain (or snow) falls there. This is one of the reasons why the Amazon basin and the river itself are the largest in the world. The mountains, which contribute to the Amazon being the largest river due to its heavy rainfall, are the reason why no rain falls at all in the Atacama Desert. The driest and wettest places in the world are located in close proximity to each other!

The second reason is added to the first reason. The Atacama Desert is located in close proximity to the Pacific Ocean, in which the cold Humboldt Current heads north from Antarctica and passes along the western coast of Chile and Peru. Therefore, the temperature of the Pacific Ocean water off the coast is significantly lower than what would be expected at this latitude. Any wind from the sea cools as it crosses the Humboldt Current and lacks enough heat to pick up moisture from the ocean's surface. Thus, unlike most winds from the seas and oceans, these are dry.

Atacama Desert: interesting facts

The Atacama Desert has over 160 species of cacti, 90 of which are endemic, meaning they can only be found here. The source of vital moisture is the thick camanchaca fog. Fog is essentially very low clouds consisting of water vapor. When the air temperature reaches the dew point, the water vapor condenses and leaves behind small droplets of water. Few living things in the Atacama Desert survive by extracting moisture from the fog. The fog provides moisture to plant communities called lomas - isolated islands of vegetation that contain a wide range of plants, from cacti to ferns. The salt lake area is home to coots and flocks of flamingos that feed on red algae growing in the water. In total, approximately 200 species of living creatures live here, mainly reptiles and insects.

The Atacama is one of the oldest deserts in the world. Scientists believe that it was formed at least 20 million years ago, and maybe even 40 million years ago. It is much older than other deserts in the world. The dry valley of Antarctica is about 10-11 million years old. The Namib Desert in Africa was formed 5 million years ago. Thus, the Atacama was in a very dry state for much longer than any other desert in the world.

The first people began to explore the Atacama Desert about 10,000 years ago. The South American Indians who lived in the desert left behind many relics of their high culture, and even of themselves. Since the Atacama is a completely dry region, the bodies of the buried Indians dried out and were perfectly preserved, turning into mummies. Some of the most ancient mummies found on our planet come from the Atacama Desert, dating back over 9,000 years! The desert may be a heartless killer, but she is a good conservative. Without moisture, nothing decomposes. Everything turns into artifacts. Even human beings.

The cities of Calama, Arica, Iquique, Antofagasta and San Pedro de Atacama are the main tourist centers in northern Chile, from where you can take excursions and travel through the desert. The small town of San Pedro de Atacama with a population of about 5,000 inhabitants is located in the center of the Atacama Desert. It is the main tourist destination for exploring the Atacama Desert.

The Valley of the Moon in the Atacama Desert is considered one of the driest places on Earth, with some areas not seeing a drop of rain for hundreds of years. The American space agency NASA, as part of a project to study the surface of Mars, decided to use dry and impassable areas of the valley to test its research vehicles (rovers) in 2003.

Anywhere on the planet, no matter how often precipitation occurs, there is always water in underground sources. After rain, some of the water evaporates back into the atmosphere, but most seeps into the soil and remains there - even in the desert. How much water and where depends on a number of factors: soil composition, air and soil surface temperatures, amount and frequency of precipitation, and runoff. Because the Andes are a volcanically active mountain range, magma underground heats groundwater in some places, causing geysers to erupt. The most famous geyser field of the Atacama is El Tatio. Situated at an altitude of 4,200 meters above sea level, it is the largest geyser field in the Southern Hemisphere and the third largest in the world after Yellowstone and the Valley of Geysers in Russia.

The high altitude, absence of clouds, light pollution, sources of dust and man-made pollution have made the Atacama Desert an ideal location for astronomical observations. There are two observatories in the desert for stargazing. The Paranal Observatory is located on Mount Cerro Paranal at an altitude of 2635 meters above sea level and operates under the direction of the European Southern Observatory. La Silla Observatory is one of the largest in the Southern Hemisphere. It is located at an altitude of 2400 meters. 9 telescopes out of 18 were built with funds from the European Southern Observatory.

For the first time in the world, the inhabitants of the Atacama Desert have successfully used a method by which they have learned to benefit from the only type of precipitation they receive: fog. The first such experiment was carried out in 1901 on Table Mountain in South Africa. But it was not until 1987, in the arid coastal desert of northern Chile, that the project was successfully implemented on a large scale. It is based on the use of a mesh that absorbs fog brought from the ocean coast. Constructed from very dense cells, the mesh hangs vertically over the laid gutters. When the mist condenses on the surface of the mesh, the moisture drips into the gutter, from where the water is delivered to the collection tanks. The successful application of the invention allowed people living in other countries with arid climates, in particular Peru, Ecuador, South Africa and Namibia, to use similar technology in dry areas.

Thanks to its unusual landscape, the Atacama Desert became the filming location for the famous television series “Space Odyssey: Voyage to the Planets.” Several episodes of the adventure film “Quantum of Solace” with the participation of superspy James Bond were also filmed in the desert.

Lack of water makes life much more difficult for people in the Atacama Desert, but the extreme dryness also has its benefits. The desert is known for its rich deposits of saltpeter, which in the past served as a raw material for the production of explosives and mineral fertilizers. This is the only place in the world where its remains have accumulated because saltpeter is easily dissolved by precipitation, and the dry desert climate was ideal for its preservation.

In the 19th century, the desert was under the control of Bolivia, Peru and Chile and soon became a conflict zone due to uncertain boundaries and the discovery of large deposits of sodium nitrate (saltpeter). The conflict over control of these resources between Chile on the one hand and Bolivia and Peru on the other resulted in the War of the Pacific (1879-1883) between these countries. In an effort to seize rich saltpeter deposits, Chile attacked Bolivia in 1879, and then Peru, which had a mutual assistance treaty with Bolivia, entered the war. As a result of a successful war for Chile, it annexed the province of Antofagasta, which is why Bolivia lost access to the sea, and Peru lost the province of Tarapaca. The richest reserves of saltpeter located in these areas came under the control of Chile.

In the late 1930s, Chile's natural nitrate mining boom came to an abrupt end. Synthetic nitrates, invented in Germany in the early 20th century, significantly undermined the production of natural nitrate in Chile in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Whereas nitrate production previously accounted for almost 50% of Chile's gross national product, over the course of several decades its production has been reduced to almost zero. A total of 170 mining towns and cities in the Atacama Desert have been closed, and only a few of them are still mining saltpeter. The desert is now dotted with approximately 170 abandoned mining towns.

The desert has rich deposits of copper ore. It is home to the world's largest open-pit copper mines, Chuquicamata.

The most ominous and merciless desert on Earth. It is in the Atacama Desert that there are places where it has not rained for centuries. Not only is it difficult for plants and animals to survive here; even the simplest microorganisms cannot survive. In such places there is practically sterility.

The Atacama Desert can be found on the map on the west coast of South America, between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes Mountains. Most of the desert territory is located in the north of the state of Chile.

Here the temperature during the day can rise to +50° C, at night it can drop to - 25° C. However, the average temperature is +20° C. In terms of temperature, this desert can be considered cool when compared with the Sahara. However, Atacama is the only desert where the air is practically devoid of moisture. Humidity is approaching 0. Precipitation is extremely rare, up to 10 mm per year, sometimes once every 10-15 years. There are places where it has not rained for centuries. That is why it turns out that Atacama is the driest place on Earth.

What is the phenomenon of Atacama aridity?

Why doesn’t it rain in this desert and how is it that the Atacama is the driest desert? If we look at its geographical location, the question immediately arises: “How was the desert formed, which is located next to the ocean?”

For the entire continent of South America, precipitation is brought by warm and humid air that blows from the east. But on the outskirts of the continent there are mountains - the Andes, which do not allow moist air to pass further. When it comes into contact with mountain peaks, the air cools and precipitation forms: heavy rain or snowfall. Most precipitation falls at the foot of the mountains, thereby replenishing the Amazon River basin. It can be assumed that, thanks in part to the Andes mountain system, the Amazon River is considered the deepest river in the world.

On the other side of the desert is the Pacific Ocean, where the Peruvian Current cools the lower layers of the atmosphere and a natural phenomenon is formed when, instead of the temperature decreasing with increasing altitude, the opposite happens - it increases. This natural phenomenon prevents precipitation, resulting in the formation of haze and fog.

The Atacama Desert is located mainly in the mountains; the air here is very thin.

This is how it turns out:

- Thin air;
- Andes, impervious to precipitation;
- The Peruvian Current, which gives an increase in temperature with increasing altitude (but it should be the other way around!).

All these factors created the conditions that created phenomenal aridity in the Atacama Desert.

How do people survive in the Atacama Desert and where do they get water?

Despite such difficult climatic conditions, people live in the Atacama Desert. For example, on the outskirts of the desert there are 2 of Chile's largest ports: Arica and Iquique.

There is practically no vegetation growing in the desert, only some types of lichens, algae and cacti. It was cacti that told people how to get water in this arid desert. Since there is often fog in the desert, people built structures that looked like cacti. Cylinders the size of a man, on the nylon walls of which fog condenses, and droplets of water flow down into the barrel. That's where people in Atacama get their water from - from the fog! Approximately 10-18 liters of water can be obtained daily in this way.

The desert also has the Loa River, which originates in the Andes and flows into the Pacific Ocean. Along the river bank there are small forests of mesquite trees, acacias, and cacti. There are a total of 160 species of cacti, 90 of which are unique - they grow only in Atacama.

Desert inhabitants settle mainly in coastal cities, near oases, where they develop agriculture. They grow olives, tomatoes, and cucumbers. Herds of limes and alpacas graze.

It is surprising that this practically lifeless territory - Atacama, became the cause of enmity between Bolivia and Chile. In 1904, after the Second Pacific War, a peace treaty was signed, according to which Bolivia transferred the entire coastal zone to Chile. Why has the driest desert become a bone of contention? Like most wars, the struggle was for natural resources and access to the sea. Here in the Atacama there are rich deposits of copper, iron, sodium nitrate, saltpeter, and iodine. The largest deposit of copper ore is also located here.

Fact No. 1. The oldest desert in the world

Scientists believe that the Atacama is the oldest desert in the world. The lands of this desert have been in a dry state for about 20 million years ago. Whereas the closest of the most ancient deserts is 2 times younger - the Dry Valleys of Antarctica - formed about 10-11 million years ago.

Fact No. 2. In the Atacama, corpses do not decompose

Everything is simple here, since the desert is very dry, due to the lack of moisture, corpses do not decompose. They simply dry out and thus form mummies. This is how Indian mummies were found, whose age exceeded 9 thousand years.

Fact No. 3. Monument "Hand of the Desert"

It was in this desert that the grandiose monument “Hand of the Desert” was erected. According to the author, it symbolizes the insecurity and vulnerability of the population of this region. It is surprising that despite the harsh climatic conditions, the population of the desert is more than a million.

Fact No. 4. Snow fell in the desert

In 2010, snow fell in the desert in May. This anomaly led to landslides. The water eroded the dry soil, resulting in a landslide that stopped a few meters from residential buildings. Also, due to the snow, the work of the observatory and road communications were paralyzed.

Fact No. 5. The desert comes closest to imitating the surface of Mars

Unusual landscapes make the Atacama a popular filming location. For example, in the film “Quantum of Solace” there are several episodes with landscapes of this desert. The scenery was also built here and the filming of the series “A Space Odyssey: Journey to the Planets” took place. NACA scientists also took a liking to these almost lifeless spaces. Due to its similarity to the surface of Mars, the first tests of Mars rovers were carried out in the Moon Valley in 2003.

The world's driest Atacama Desert originates from the border of Peru and Chile and extends 1000 km in length towards the south. It is located along the coast of Chile in close proximity to the Pacific Ocean - the largest body of water on the planet. Most of the desert is at very high altitude in the mountains. The total area is about 105,000 km2. This is roughly the size of New York State in the United States. It is 50 times drier than Death Valley in California. The incredibly dry desert receives an average of 10mm of rain per year. In many places there is no rain for several years. Some places have not seen rainfall for 400 years. Solar radiation is very intense due to the high altitude and thin atmosphere. The possibility of life in some places is zero, there are no ticks or scorpions, predators and their victims. Complete sterility.

Why is the Atacama the driest desert in the world?

There are two main reasons why an area turns into a desert. Any one of these reasons is sufficient to cause the formation of a desert; the Atacama has all two.

Atacama Desert: interesting facts

The desert has rich deposits of copper ore. It is home to the world's largest open-pit copper mines, Chuquicamata.

Atacama, Torres del Paine National Park and Easter Island are three of Chile's most popular tourist destinations, the so-called "Golden Triangle" of Chilean tourism. What are the most popular tours in the Atacama Desert you can find out from the article

The driest desert in the world: photo and description Due to the action of which current the Atacama Desert was formed

Portugal is a country of great sailors and the western outskirts of Europe. Porto, as the Portuguese themselves call this city.

Atacama Desert: “Amazing and Mysterious. The driest desert in the world: photo and description Due to the action of which current the Atacama Desert was formed