The Atacama Desert (Spanish: Desierto de Atacama) is a plateau in
South America
, covering a 1,000-kilometre (600 mi) strip of land on the Pacific coast, west of the Andes mountains.
Where is Atacama Desert located?
Atacama Desert, Spanish Desierto de Atacama, cool, arid region in
northern Chile
, 600 to 700 miles (1,000 to 1,100 km) long from north to south. Its limits are not exactly determined, but it lies mainly between the south bend of the Loa River and the mountains separating the Salado-Copiapó drainage basins.
What side of the mountain is the Atacama Desert on?
The desert is primarily on
the leeward side of each mountain chain
, which is where the rain shadow is for mountain ranges, further decreasing the amount of rain the desert gets. The third major factor that keeps the Atacama Desert so dry is the cold ocean current that runs adjacent to the coast of South America.
What mountains are near the Atacama Desert?
Cordillera Domeyko, range of the Andes Mountains
in northern Chile. The mountains rise to more than 16,000 feet (4,900 metres) and extend about 230 miles (370 km) between the Atacama Desert to the west and the Atacama Plateau to the east.
Is there a desert near the Andes mountains?
Chile’s Atacama Desert
, the driest nonpolar desert on Earth, stretches across a roughly 600-mile (1,000 kilometers) tract of land wedged between the coastal Cordillera de la Costa mountain range and the Andes Mountains.
What is Atacama Desert famous for?
The Atacama Desert is the
driest nonpolar desert in the world
, as well as the only true desert to receive less precipitation than the polar deserts and the largest fog desert in the world. Both regions have been used as experimentation sites on Earth for Mars expedition simulations.
Is Atacama Desert worth visiting?
Atacama Desert is definitely worth visiting
, considering the fact you can enjoy both stunning landscapes in Valley de la Luna and see rare animal species like vicuñas, and flamingos. Spending one week in San Pedro de Atacama during January is the best plan to visit Atacama Desert.
Do humans live in the Atacama Desert?
Surprisingly,
around one million people
call the Atacama Desert home. Crowding into coastal fishing villages, mining areas and oasis towns. Inhabitants grow dry-weather produce such as olives, tomatoes and cucumbers, and herd alpacas for a living.
What happened in Atacama Desert in Chile in 1971?
Flooding hits
Chile’s Atacama desert. The worst flooding in over a decade. Hundreds forced from their homes. Hundreds of people have been forced from their homes after four days of heavy rain brought flooding to Chile’s Atacama Desert.
What causes the Atacama Desert?
Why is the Atacama so dry? First, this desert is located in the “rain shadow” between two mountain ranges, the Andes and the Chilean Coast Range. Second,
winds called the Pacific Anticyclone flow through
this area. Those winds blow dry air into the Atacama Desert.
Is Atacama a cold or hot desert?
Even though the Atacama is the driest place in the world that does not mean it is the hottest. The Atacama Desert is actually
a really cold place
with temperatures ranging from 0 to 30 degrees. Three countries fought the War of the Pacific in the 1880s for control of the desert.
Is there water in the Atacama Desert?
The Atacama Desert is one of the driest places on earth and
fresh water
, which is critical to the mining process, is a vital resource to be used sparingly.
Which place is the driest place on Earth?
The Atacama Desert in Chile
, known as the driest place on Earth, is awash with color after a year’s worth of extreme rainfall. In an average year, this desert is a very dry place.
What is the best desert in the world?
- Danakil, Ethiopia. …
- Thar, India. …
- Namib, Namibia. …
- Sahara, Morocco. …
- Atacama, Chile. …
- White Desert, Egypt. …
- Dasht-e Kavir, Iran. …
- Gobi, Mongolia. Located around 3,300 feet above sea level, the Gobi Desert is a mammoth region that’s comprised of extensive steppes, mountains and sandy desert.
What is the biggest desert in America?
The Great Basin Desert
is the largest desert area of North America. It is also the most northerly, covering most of Nevada (Ne), the western third of Utah (U) and parts of Idaho (Id) and Oregon (Or).
Which is the coldest desert in the world?
The largest desert on Earth is
Antarctica
, which covers 14.2 million square kilometers (5.5 million square miles). It is also the coldest desert on Earth, even colder than the planet’s other polar desert, the Arctic. Composed of mostly ice flats, Antarctica has reached temperatures as low as -89°C (-128.2°F).
