Overview

The Atacama Desert is known to be one of the driest regions in the world. The desert itself is located in the northern part of Chile and West of the Andes. It starts at the Chile-Peru border and stretches South 600 miles. The Western part of the desert consists mostly of salt pans, which are flat areas covered in salt. In the East, it contains alluvial fans which are fan-shaped accumulations of sediment such as sand or gravel at the foot of a mountain where a stream comes to an end. The temperatures are generally low compared to other places at a similar latitude. Cold water from the Pacific Ocean rises up and causes a thermal inversion, meaning that there is cold air at sea level and hotter air higher up. Because of the dry and arid climate, the desert is unable to support the life of plants and animals. The Atacama Desert is an unimaginably dry place where life can barely survive. Eventually, the Chilean people will adapt to the environment and create groundbreaking technology that will for sure impact the path of humanity.