The river crossing the desert 3 letters. Atacama Desert: Amazing and Mysterious

a phenomenon never seen in the Chilean Atacama Desert

Precipitation

Moderately blessed phenomenon of nature

Precipitation type

And mushroom and pouring

Large, fractional frequent, the whole earth got drunk

Reason to open an umbrella

Weather phenomenon

The background of the downpour

Mushroom Waterer

What's behind the thunderstorm

He walked lanky, stuck in the damp earth. (mystery)

... "Thin, long, but will sit in the grass - not to see" (riddle)

Ingmar Bergman's film "... over our love"

Ridley Scott's film "Black ..."

Bad weather, under which the bunny was left

The story Russian writer S. A. Krutilina "Oblique ..."

The story of the Russian writer V. M. Kozhevnikov "All week ..."

... "What is higher than a forest and thinner than a hair?" (mystery)

Woodcock, when hungry, can lightly bang its beak on the ground, forcing the worms to crawl to the surface and imitating just this

Drummer on the roof

... "I came from heaven, I left the earth" (riddle)

The precipitation that made a puddle

Reason to open an umbrella

... "People are waiting for me, they call me, and when I come to them, they run away" (riddle)

... "I walked lanky, got stuck in the ground" (riddle)

... "It seems ... going!"

Fallout from the bucket

Reason to open your umbrella

The golden image of Zeus

Pouring...

Tears of Autumn

Free watering

Poem by B. Pasternak

Poem by the Russian poet of the 19th century A. Bestuzhev

Atmospheric precipitation in the form of water droplets

Tears of the clouds

Knocking on the roof

Crying Autumn

... "Summer ...", Talkov

... "Sang -...", Kuzmin

Atmospheric pouring mocker

He falls, although they say: "He is coming"

... "One rainfall has not yet ..."

1 of the 3 components of a thunderstorm

The most weather for umbrellas

Flared snow

Mock informer

Summer analogue of winter snow

Informer

Third to thunder and lightning

One of the three components of a thunderstorm

Liquid precipitation

Atmospheric precipitation in the form of water droplets, jets

Abundant deposition of the smallest dust particles during dust storms

About what. falling in the set

The appearance in the night sky of many shooting stars (meteors)

... "One rain shower has not yet ..."

... "Summer ...", Talkov

Rain, dozhzh, dozhzhik, dozhik m. Water in drops or streams from clouds. (Ancient dezhg; dezhgem, rain; dezhgevy, rain; dezhgiti, rain). Sitnichek, the finest rain; downpour, torrential, strongest; oblique overlap, understega, oblique rain, in the direction of a strong wind. Thunderous rain, with a thunderstorm; wet rains, autumn, prolonged bad weather. Rubbish, hut, chicher, stucco, snow and rain. Senognoy, rain during mowing. Drizzle, beads, the smallest rain, even finer than the hermit. Bathing or perch rain, a sieve, in baths and baths, through which water is pouring rain. Frequent rains, violent winds. Rain through the sun, through the sun, at the same time. Rain in half with the sun, on a drowned man, or the righteous died. The rain has pierced to the bone. The rain did not leave a dry thread; soaked like yusha, lower, bonfire. After the rain, God will give the sun. After a thunderstorm, rain, after a bucket of bad weather. The rain will soak, and the red sun will dry. At one o'clock both snow and rain. There will be rain, there will be fungi; and there will be fungi, there will be a box. As it rains in May, so will the rye. God will give rain, and rye will be born. God will give rain, and rye. The rain comes out of the bucket. May God give it to the rain, I’ll be fat! Heavy rain is not a dispute. A drop of rain, a dewdrop of dew. After Kazanskaya, it will rain, pour all the holes. It will pour holes on the Kazan rain, winter will lead, October Already rain like rain, pour a ladle! hello rain. Mother of God, give rain to our barley, to the master's hops! hello rain. From the rain, yes (or not) into the water. It was bad weather, but the rain prevented. Either rain or snow, or it will or not. Covered with rain, fenced with wind, shelter. Not in the rain: we will stand, but we will wait. Not in the rain, wait. Wet rain, but naked is not afraid of robbery. Rain on the young happiness. Rain for the peasant is rye, and the barge haulers are for the louse. Rain, dozhevoy, church. raining, coming from the rain, bringing rain, referring to the rain. Doze cloud. Rainwater is fresher and softer than any other. Jumped up like a rain bubble (like a blister) Large rain bubbles, to rain. Rainy day or year, heavy rain, rains; rainy edge, strip, terrain, heavy rains. Raincoat, raincoat, dozhevik m. Filthy mushroom Lycoperdon, hare potatoes, purhavka, bee sponge, snuff, tobacco, damn tavlinka. A raincoat is not a mushroom, an upstart is not a pointer. A casual person that a raincoat: jumped up and burst. Earthworm or earthworm, use. for bait fishing rods. Rain w. tub, under roofing, drainpipes. Dozzhuha rainwater, in any use. Doing laundry. When there is rainfall in the hay (rot), then there is a bucket in the bottom, that is, the bread will be born well. Rain, sprinkle with rain, send rain. Again it was a little startling. the canopy is awaiting. The cornfields have rained. It got a little bit clearer and cleared up. If only he could wait. The whole day lasted. The Lord is raining on the fields. Pop rains with a sprinkler. Impersonal rain. It's raining in the yard. Get in touch with arch. impersonal rain, rain. It will be slow in the yard and it will rain. Rain gauge, obrometer, a projectile that measures the amount of falling rain. Rainy, rainy, bringing, giving birth

He falls, although they say: "He is coming"

The story of the Russian writer S. A. Krutilin "Oblique ..."

The story of the Russian writer V. M. Kozhevnikov "All week ..."

Ingmar Bergman's film "... over our love"

Ridley Scott's film "Black ..."

Crying snowfall

The most sinister and ruthless desert on Earth. It is in the Atacama Desert that there are places where it has not rained for centuries. It is difficult to survive here not only for plants and animals, even the simplest microorganisms do not survive. In such places, it is practically styled.

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

Here, the temperature during the day can rise to + 50 ° С, at night it can drop to - 25 ° С.However, average temperature+ 20 ° С. According to the temperature value, this desert can be considered cool when compared with the Sahara. However, the 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 every 10-15 years. There are places where it hasn't rained for centuries. That is why it turns out that Atacama is the most dry place on the ground.

What is the Atacama aridity phenomenon?

Why doesn't it rain in this desert and how is it that the Atacama is the driest desert? If we look at her geographical position, then the question immediately arises: "How was the desert, which is located next to the ocean, formed?"

For the entire continent of South America, warm and humid air that blows from the east brings precipitation. But on the outskirts of the continent there are mountains - the Andes, which do not allow moist air to pass further. When in contact with mountain peaks the air cools down and precipitation is formed: heavy rains or snowfalls. Most of the precipitation falls at the foot of the mountains, thereby replenishing the Amazon basin. We can assume that, among other things, thanks to mountain system Andes, 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 atmosphere and forms natural phenomenon when, instead of lowering the temperature with increasing altitude, the opposite happens - it increases. This natural phenomenon also prevents precipitation, resulting in the formation of haze, fog.

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

So it turns out:

• - thin air;
• - The Andes, which do not allow precipitation;
• - Peruvian current, which gives an increase in temperature with increasing altitude (and it should be the other way around!).

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

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

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

There is practically no vegetation in the desert, only some species of lichens, algae and cacti. It was cacti that prompted people how to get water in this arid desert. Since there are often fogs in the desert, people have built structures that look like cacti. Human-sized cylinders, on the nylon walls of which, fog condenses, and water droplets flow down into the barrel. That's where the people in the Atacama get their water - from the fog! This way you can extract about 10-18 liters of water every day.

There is also the Loa River in the desert, which originates in the Andes and flows into the Pacific Ocean. Small forests of mesquite trees, acacias, and cacti grow along the river bank. In total, there are 160 species of cacti, 90 of which are unique - they germinate only in Atacama.

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

It is surprising that this virtually lifeless territory, Atacama, has become the cause of the feud between Bolivia and Chile. In 1904, after the II 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, iodine. The largest copper ore deposit is also located here.

Fact number 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 was formed about 10-11 million years ago.

Fact number 2. Corpses do not decompose in Atacama

Everything is simple here, since the desert is very dry, the corpses do not decompose due to the lack of moisture. They just dry out and thus mummies are formed. So the mummies of the Indians were found, whose age exceeded 9 thousand years.

Fact number 3. Monument "Hand of the Desert"

It was in this desert that the grandiose monument "Hand of the Desert" was erected. As conceived by 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 over a million.

Fact number 4. Snow fell in the desert

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

Fact number 5. The desert is closest to mimicking the surface of Mars.

Unusual landscapes make the Atacama popular place filming. For example, in the movie "Quantum of Solace" there are several episodes with landscapes of this desert. They also built the scenery and filmed the series “A Space Odyssey: Journey to the Planets”. Scientists of NACA also took a fancy to these, practically lifeless, spaces. In the Moon Valley, due to the similarity with the surface of Mars, the first tests of the Mars rovers were carried out in 2003.

The mummified body of an alien, who was dubbed Ata (in the area - the Atacama Desert), was discovered in 2003 and immediately made a sensation in scientific circles.

Some orthodox scientists, such as Harry Nolan, professor of microbiology at the Stanford School of Medicine, have concluded that this is a mutated person. However, there were also lighter minds, like Ramon Navia Osorio, an employee of the Institute of Exobiological Research in Spain, who cited as evidence that Ata is not a man, at least a dozen inconsistencies between a man and a tiny mummy found.

And in one of the caves of the Peruvian Atacama Desert, a small elongated skull was recently found, which is very similar to the head of the legendary Ata. The finds of Peruvian cavers (a tiny figure and an elongated skull) were examined by a world-renowned scientist Brian Foerster, who has more than once encountered the unusual remains of people (or aliens). According to him, the skull was covered with gray skin, which had not been damaged by time. The thickness of the skull bone is no more than five millimeters.

It is still difficult to say, the researcher says, what it is, although at first glance it all resembles the remains of an alien from other worlds than humans. Currently, samples of bone and skin tissue have been sent for examination to several laboratories in the countries. North America- for a DNA test and radiocarbon analysis. Therefore, it is too early to say anything.

Recall that elongated skulls were common among the ancient inhabitants of South America. Scientists put forward several versions of this: from artificial deformation in order to imitate the gods (aliens) to mixing local residents and aliens. The fact that the heads of the gods were distinguished by elongated skulls is indirectly confirmed by the pharaohs. Ancient egypt, possessing the same strange, from our point of view, heads that they had to hide from ordinary people under high headdresses.

However, there is no need to rely on the fact that scientists will soon come out with a sensational statement that the skull of an alien (another Ata) has been found. Orthodox science does everything to prove the opposite, and if this does not work, then it simply keeps silent about what happened or even falsifies the data. It seems that the all-powerful world forces are behind all this, which are not interested in the spread of information about extraterrestrial civilizations too quickly and widely - only in certain metered portions. Therefore, it is best at the level not scientific communities, and ufological sites, in the authenticity of the information of which not everyone believes ...

Video: Another Ata found in the Atacama Desert?

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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 took place in the life of Atacama. A powerful fortress, erected 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 the Chilean lands.

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

Until the 19th century. the vast area of ​​the desert remained virtually untouched. After the liberation of the South American countries from the rule of the Spanish crown, the situation in the vicinity of Atacama changed dramatically, immediately the question of dividing the territory arose. Since there were no definite boundaries between regions, Chile, Bolivia and Peru began to engage in fierce debates about the right to claim the largest piece of the desert. When rich deposits of saltpeter were discovered here, this "poured oil" into the ever-flaring dispute, which was never resolved peacefully - the conflict resulted in the II Pacific War (1879-1883), also called "The saltpeter war", which ended in favor of Chile.

In the 80s. XIX century. mining settlements began to grow here in great numbers. The nitrate 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 disrupted the production of natural nitrate in Chile in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Whereas earlier the production of nitrate amounted to almost 50% of the gross national product in the country, for several decades its production has practically been reduced to zero. Only in some settlements the extraction of nitrates is still going on, the rest of the settlements were closed. Today, the Atacama Desert is dotted with some 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 the "Valley of Death" in California: there has been no significant rainfall for more than 4 centuries, river beds have been dry for over 120 thousand years. In some parts of the region, rain is observed once every several decades. For example, the average rainfall in the Chilean region (Spanish Antofagasta) is only 1 mm per year. Atacama recorded the lowest air humidity on Earth - 0%. This phenomenon is caused by the influence of the Peruvian Current, which cools the lower layers of the air and prevents rain from falling.

The Atacama is not quite a typical desert, there is no scorching heat usual for most deserts, it has a rather 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, fogs are often observed in some areas of the area; sandy and rocky dunes, as well as salt marshes, are characteristic of it. Rivers descending from the Andean mountains to the eastern extremities of the desert erode salt marshes, forming salt lakes, which, drying out under the hot rays of the sun, create a thick salt cover. Over time, this glittering canopy erodes, forming lagoons, the favorite habitat of numerous flocks of flamingos and coots.

Most of the desert is located in the mountains. The local mountains, reaching a height of 7 thousand meters, do not have glaciers. Because of high location above a / m and rarefaction of the atmosphere, there is a large intensity of solar radiation.

Altiplano

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

The flora and fauna of the Altiplano is rich and varied. Vicuña (a type of llama) and viscacha (a type of chinchilla) are found here. Vegetable world includes such rare plants as Llareta (Spanish. Llareta), better known as a pillow plant, and Kenoa or Quinwa (Ketch. Kinwa) - a type of tree, the tallest in the world.

Flora and fauna

The vegetation of the plain area of ​​the desert is rather sparse. But, despite the unusually harsh conditions, more than 160 species of small cacti grow here. Thorny bushes, lichens and blue-green algae are found in some places. Oases (narrow strips of gallery forests) are made up of acacias, mesquite trees and, of course, a range of cactus varieties.

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

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

In some areas here, life is almost impossible - even scorpions and ticks are absent there. However, the coastal cliffs are home to large colonies of fish-eating birds.

Minerals

The bowels of the desert store rich deposits of copper, as well as the largest deposits of sodium nitrate, saltpeter, sodium chloride and borax. Between Bolivia and Chile from the beginning of the XIX 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 the 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, while cooling, fall in the form of rains. The same Andes, in which the full-flowing ( largest river in the world, feeding on abundant tropical rains), are the reason that precipitation almost never occurs in Atacama.

Paradoxically, the driest and wettest places on the planet coexist side by side, in fact, "side by side"!

All the moisture that desert dwellers can count on comes here in the form of thick fogs. To collect water, the inhabitants of this region have long been using a local invention - unique "mist catchers", which are cylindrical containers as tall as a human being.

The walls of the cylinders are made of nylon threads, on which the fog condenses and through which water flows into the tank. This device allows you to collect up to 20 liters per day. water that is quite drinkable.

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 area of ​​the Atacama with ideal clear sky the international bases of astronomers are located. In its northern regions, farmers grow olives, tomatoes and cucumbers, extracting water for irrigation from deep aquifers. A chain of snow-covered mountain peaks feed the valleys and oases with moisture, allowing the indigenous Indians to cultivate crops, raise llamas and alpacas.

Sights in Atacama Desert

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 the local wonders.

The main symbol of the Atacama is "" (Spanish Mario Irarrаzabal).

Another striking attraction is the so-called "Desert Blossom" that occurs when humid air masses from the Pacific Ocean bring long-awaited moisture here. Usually "bloom" occurs in September-October. When the desert blooms, this fantastic sight amazes with a 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 lies one of the most amazing the globe places - Lunar Valley (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 forms. Amazing salt figures, especially those that look fantastic in the moonlight, are considered the guardians of the valley.

Valley of the Moon (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 old.
• 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 on the planet, the 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 the northern part of Chile, from where you can go on an unforgettable excursion.
  
• Local winds, despite the proximity of the ocean, do not contain moisture. This is because near the Chilean coast there is a cold one coming from Antarctica. Air masses, getting into the zone of its influence, quickly cool down. As a result, they are unable to pick up moisture from the surface of the water. They just don't have enough warmth.
• On May 19, 2010, an incredible phenomenon happened - real snow fell in Atacama! Snowdrifts piled up such that because of them road traffic, communications and power supply were disrupted.
• Ever since Chile took over the desert, small workers' settlements have sprung up around the saltpeter deposits. They can still be seen today. But now they are abandoned and are called "Ghost Cities".
• From point of view water treatments very interesting is Laguna Cejar (Spanish Laguna Cejar). This alpine lake represents 40% brine, swimming in which is comparable to swimming in the Israeli Dead Sea - the water itself holds.
• In the most distant part National Reserve Los Flamencos(Spanish: Reserva Nacional Los Flamencos - "Flamingo Reserve"; 4.6 thousand m above sea level) is salt Lake Tara (Spanish Lago de Tara), where a wonderful bird - the flamingo - is found.
• Those who like to slide down from sand dunes on a board also prefer to come here. This fairly new sports form of entertainment is called sandboarding.
• The seeds and bulbs of numerous plants are able to “stand by” rain for many years. To restore vital activity, they only need 15 mm of moisture per year.
• Of the 160 species of cacti growing here, more than half (90 species) are endemic.
• Since 2003, the US Space Agency NASA has been using the impassable dry sections of the "Moon Valley" to test its "Mars rovers" as part of a project to study the surface of Mars.
• 
  Especially interesting place for visiting in the region is considered the valley of geysers El Tatio (Spanish: El Tatio). The South American Andes have remained active to this day. Groundwater is heated by hot magma and is powerfully pushed from the bowels of the earth to the surface.
• Located 4,200 m above sea level, El Tatio is the largest geyser field in the Southern Hemisphere and the 3rd largest in the world after National park Yellowstone National park; USA) and "Valley of Geysers" (Russia, Kamchatka).
• Lack of water makes it very difficult for people to live in the Atacama, but the extreme dryness has its advantages. The desert has rich deposits of saltpeter. In the past, it served as a raw material for the production of the necessary mineral fertilizers and explosives. This is the only place in the world where its remains are still preserved. This is because saltpeter dissolves easily in water. And the dry climate of the area is ideal for preserving it.
• There are rich deposits of copper ore here. The place (Spanish Chuquicamata) is home to the world's largest open mines for the extraction of copper.
• It is known that in the absence of moisture, dead organisms do not decompose, but dry up, remaining unchanged for centuries. Not surprisingly, the world's driest desert is the perfect conservative. On its territory, archaeologists have found perfectly preserved Indian mummies. Many of them are over 9 millennia old.
• The famous enigmatic sculpture "The Hand of the Desert" is unfortunately a permanent graffiti object. Therefore, it requires regular cleaning.

The Atacama Desert is known for its extremely rare rainfall: in some places it has not rained for several hundred years. The temperature here is quite moderate and there are often fogs, but due to its dryness, the vegetation and animal world not rich. However, Chileans have learned to cope with the peculiarities of their desert, extract water and organize exciting tours of the sand mounds.

Main features of the Atacama Desert

Many have heard what the Atacama is famous for, but do not know which hemisphere it is in and how it was formed. The driest place on Earth stretches from north to south in western South America and is sandwiched between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes. This territory is more than 105 thousand square kilometers belongs to Chile and shares borders with Peru, Bolivia and Argentina.

Despite the fact that this is a desert, the climate here can hardly be called sultry. Day and night temperatures are moderate and vary with altitude. Moreover, Atacama can even be called a cold desert: in summer it is no more than 15 degrees Celsius, and in winter the temperature rises to an average of 20 degrees. Due to the low air humidity, glaciers do not form high in the mountains. The temperature difference at different times of the day causes frequent fogs, this phenomenon is more typical of winter.

The Chilean desert is crossed by only one river Loa, the channel of which runs in the southern part. From the rest of the rivers, only traces remained, and then, according to the calculations of scientists, there has been no water in them for more than a hundred thousand years. Now these areas are oasis islands, where flowering plants are still found.

Reasons for the formation of a desert area

The origin of the Atacama Desert is due to two main reasons related to its location. On the mainland, there is a long strip of the Andes, which prevent water from entering the western part of South America. Most of the sediments that form the Amazon Basin are trapped here. Only a small fraction of them sometimes reach the eastern part of the desert, but this is not enough to enrich the entire territory.

The other side of the arid region is washed by the Pacific Ocean, from where it would seem that moisture should get, but this does not happen due to the cold Peruvian current. In this area, a phenomenon such as temperature inversion operates: the air does not cool with increasing altitude, but becomes warmer. Thus, moisture does not evaporate, therefore, precipitation has nowhere to form, because even the winds are dry here. That is why the driest desert is devoid of water, because it is protected from moisture on both sides.

Flora and fauna in the Atacama

The lack of water makes this area uninhabitable, so there are few animals and relatively poor vegetation. However, cacti of various types are found almost everywhere in arid place. Moreover, scientists count several dozen different species, including endemics, for example, representatives of the Copiapoa genus.

More diverse vegetation is found in oases: here, along the beds of dried rivers, strips of small forests grow, consisting mainly of shrubs. They are called gallery and they are formed from acacias, cacti and mesquite trees. In the center of the desert, where it is especially dry, even the cacti are small, and you can also see dense lichens and even how the tillandsia bloomed.

Close to the ocean, there are whole colonies of birds that nest on the rocks and get food from the sea. Animals can be found here only close to human settlements, in particular, they also breed them. Very popular species in the Atacama Desert are alpacas and llamas, which can tolerate water scarcity.

The development of the desert by man

Chileans are not afraid of the lack of water in Atacama, because more than a million people live on its territory. Of course, most of the population chooses oases as their place of residence, in which small cities are being built, but even arid areas have already learned to cultivate and receive insignificant harvests from them. In particular, thanks to irrigation systems, tomatoes, cucumbers and olives grow in Atacama.

Over the years of living in the desert, people have learned to provide themselves with water even with minimal humidity. They came up with unique devices where they get water from. They were called mist eliminators. The structure consists of a cylinder up to two meters high. The peculiarity lies in the internal structure where the nylon threads are located. During fog, drops of moisture accumulate on them, which fall into the barrel from below. The devices help to extract up to 18 liters of fresh water per day.

Earlier, until 1883, this area belonged to Bolivia, but due to the defeat of the country in the war, the desert was transferred to the possession of the Chilean people. There are still disputes regarding this area due to the presence of rich mineral deposits in it. Today, copper, saltpeter, iodine, and borax are mined in Atacama. After the evaporation of water hundreds of thousands of years ago, salt lakes formed on the territory of the Atacama. Now these are the places where the richest deposits of table salt are located.

The Atacama Desert is very amazing in nature, because due to its peculiarities it can present unusual surprises. So, due to the lack of moisture, corpses do not decompose here. Dead bodies literally dry up and turn into mummies. In the course of researching this area, scientists often find burials of Indians, whose bodies shriveled thousands of years ago.

In May 2010, a strange phenomenon for these places happened - the snow was falling with such force that huge snowdrifts appeared in the cities, making it difficult to move on the road. As a result, there were disruptions in the operation of power plants and the observatory. Nobody has ever seen such a phenomenon here, and it has not been possible to explain its reasons.

In the center of the Atacama is the driest part of the desert, which is nicknamed By the valley of the moon... Such a comparison was given to her due to the fact that the dunes resemble a photo of the surface of the Earth's satellite. It is known that the space research center conducted tests of the rover in this area.

Closer to the Andes, the desert turns into a plateau with one of the largest geyser fields in the world. El Tatio appeared due to the volcanic activity of the Andes and became another amazing component of the unique desert.

Chilean desert landmarks

The main attraction of the Atacama Desert is the giant's hand, half protruding from the sand dunes. It is also called the Hand of the Desert. Its creator, Mario Irarrazabal, wanted to show all the helplessness of man in the face of the unshakable sands of the endless desert. The monument is located deep in the Atacama, far from settlements... Its height is 11 meters, and it is made of cement on a steel frame. This monument is often found in pictures or videos, as it is popular with Chileans and guests of the country.

In 2003, a strange dry body was found in the city of La Noria, which had long been abandoned by the inhabitants. According to its constitution, it could not be attributed to the human species, which is why they called the find the Atacama Humanoid. At the moment, there is still debate as to where this mummy came from in the city and who it really belongs to.