Atacama desert

Discover the fascinating sights and details of Atacama.

1. Atacama Desert By: Undariya Rinchin

2. Basic Info Driest Desert in the world Plateau in South America Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina Covers 105,000km^2 AKA “ Desierto de Atacama”

3. Made up of Stony terrain Salt lakes Sand Felsic Lava

4. Rainfall Average 15mm rain/per year Some parts never received rain Goes without raining for 4 years May be oldest desert

5. Hyper aridity Extreme hyper aridity for 3 million years May be oldest desert Glacier free mountains (600m) Chile hyper aridity - past 200 million years

6. Climate Dry A ntiplano winter - January to Febuary - Rain, Thunderstorms Extreme Antarctic Cold front - July 2011 - 80 cm of snow - antiplano winter

7. mars Soil compared to mars Used for filming mars scenes   Used by NASA to test Mars missions Space Odyssey: Voyage to the Planets

8. Valle de la luna Valley of the Moon Looks like the surface of the moon 13 km to the west of the town of San Pedro de Atacama

9. Solar car racing 18 solar powered cars displayed Front of presidential palace Raced 1300 km through Atacama

10. Tourism Tourists stay in San Pedro de Atacama Top three tourist locations in Chile ESO hotel reserved for astronomers

11. Sports Popular with all-terrain sports Mostly races Lower Atacama Rally Lower Chile Ralley Patagonia- Atacama Rally Dakar Rally -Held in 2009-2012

12. Flora Flora grew despites a rid climate 500 species have gathered Adapted to extreme environment Herbs Flowers- thyme, llareta , saltglass Llareta - highest growing food species in the world Flowers bloom after rainfall

13. Fauna Limits number of animals Permanently extreme ecosystem No plants or animals at some parts Sand colored grass hoppers Wasps and butterflies found during humid times Some lizards and scorpions survive in Atacama

14. Human settelment Populated at towns near the Pacific coast Some valleys populated Conflicts over water resources

15. Mining Copper mining since 1950 Provided wealth Rich deposits of copper