The world's driest desert: photo and description

On the territory of Chile is the most arid place on our planet, and the more amazing is that there life remains. For four centuries, even a drop of life-giving rain has not fallen in this valley, and therefore the humidity of a unique place is zero percent.

A bit of history

Bounded with Peru, the world's driest desert is located in the west of South America. When the Spaniards took possession of the Chilean lands, they hoped to find valuable deposits. However, over a vast territory of one hundred and five thousand square kilometers, no deposits of minerals were found for three hundred years.

After gaining independence from the Spanish conquerors, Bolivia and Peru began to claim the desert lands, and after the nitrate deposit was discovered in the 19th century, an armed conflict began that led to the Second Pacific War.

Laurels of the winner went to Chile, and a large number began to grow miners' settlements in Atacama. Unfortunately, after the advent of synthetic nitrates, the production of nitrate was reduced to naught, and today there are more than 150 abandoned townships called "ghosts" in the area.

By the way, the world's driest desert is the only place on the planet where the remains of the mineral are still stored thanks to a unique climate, because everywhere saltpeter immediately dissolves in water.

Climate of the desert

Many believe that the huge hollow in California, called the Valley of Death, is considered the hottest place on earth, but it's not. In the national park of America are frequent long-term precipitation, leading to floods and changing the terrain. And on the territory of Atakama, the riverbeds are already dry for 120 thousand years, and the rain comes once in several decades. Therefore, for all questions about what the most dry desert in the world, scientists answer unequivocally.

In arid terrain, there is no typical debilitating heat. The average daily temperature rises from zero to 25 degrees. A significant part of the territory is in the mountains that do not have glaciers, reaching an altitude of about seven thousand meters.

Flora and fauna

Despite the rather severe conditions, the poor vegetation of the plain consists of lichens, thorny bushes and small cacti, of which there are more than 160 species. In addition, several acacia oases come across.

But the animal world is really scarce: on the ground snakes and insects, taking the saving moisture from the fogs, prevail. Water vapor with condensate cooling condenses and feeds small islets of vegetation in the middle of the scorched desert.

And in some areas even scorpions are not found, in any hot sand absolutely no life.

"Rain Shadow"

Scientists have found out why the most dry desert on Earth is such. The reason for this is an unusual phenomenon called the "rain shadow". High Andes are becoming a powerful barrier to the tropical atmospheric masses that carry sediments to South America. Thus, the blowing local winds do not contain moisture, despite the proximity of the ocean.

Devices for collection of moisture

All moisture in the desert comes in the form of thick fogs, and this is the only thing that its inhabitants can count on. Local people have adapted to collect water, using a cunning adaptation of a height in human growth.

A unique "mist eliminator" is an invention of cylindrical shape, the walls of which are made of nylon threads. On them, suitable for drinking moisture drains into the tank, thus allowing to collect up to 20 liters of water.

The population of the desert

It will seem strange, but the driest desert in the Atacama world has become the home of more than one million people who have settled in coastal oasis cities. In the north, farmers grow tomatoes and cucumbers, using a drip irrigation system for irrigation. And in the coastal part of it there are international bases of astronomers.

The starting point for those wishing to explore the desert is the small town of San Pedro de Atacama, founded in the time of the Spanish conquerors. Located in the heart of the arid territory is a small town with a population of no more than five thousand people is the most famous.

Moon Valley

In the east of Atacama is an amazing landmark that is famous far beyond Chile. Valle de la Luna - an unusual place on the globe, whose landscapes resemble the moon. The valley with unique formations of sand, salt and stone of bizarre forms, processed by time and nature, fantastically looks in the dark, when the shadows on the hills turn the valley into a mystical place.

Stunning landscapes, in which tourists see the most strange images, are remembered for a long time. You can argue long about whether or not the types of stone formations are similar to lunar craters. Travelers there tend to think that this is, rather, a way to attract as many guests as possible, but nevertheless everyone celebrates a fairytale picture that has no equal for entertainment.

Plain, of which legends are composed

In the dark, with the moonlight, dark figures become clearly visible, called by the local inhabitants of the plains guard. Ancient Indian myths tell about the spirits of shamans who left the body and went to the astral, and the stone defenders of the Lunar Valley served as their guide. There are a lot of sci-fi movies shot, and the local population is sure that thousands of years ago there lived real aliens.

The lunar valley has been used by the American agency NASA for more than 10 years as a testing ground for its "rovers", and astronauts have been trained here before landing on the moon.

Sculpture in the sand

The world's driest desert is known for a frightening and intriguing sculpture in the form of a huge human palm protruding from the sand. The author has tried so to express human helplessness and vulnerability to the forces of nature.

Unconcious guests put drawings on the palm, and the art object often needs regular cleaning.

The most dry desert in the world blossomed

One of the most significant phenomena of the desert is the so-called "flowering". This happens on those days when the long-awaited rain spills on dry sand. The thing is that the seeds of numerous plants can be in the expectation of water for many years, and for life they need about 15 millimeters of moisture per year.

In 2015 the most dry desert in the world blossomed with a pink carpet. There has never been a rain in the past hundreds of years, and heavy rains have awakened to the life of the mallow, which blossomed brightly.

Anomalous phenomenon surprised scientists by the fact that for the whole history of Atacama observation it has never been covered with turbulent vegetation twice a year. This became a real phenomenon, which attracted thousands of tourists to the region. Local authorities reported that unusual flowering helped significantly replenish the region's budget.

Interesting Facts

• Atakama is the oldest desert on Earth. Scientists believe that her age exceeds twenty million years.
• 2010 is marked by an incredible event in its history. In May, a huge amount of snow fell, and because of the high snowdrifts, communications and road traffic were disrupted. In addition, it took a long time to restore electricity supply to cities.
• It is known that the arid climate perfectly preserves any organisms. By killing, they do not decompose, but only dry up. Due to this property, archeological expeditions discovered in the desert sands the mummies of Indians who lived on the territory more than nine millennia ago.
• The driest desert in the world accepts not only travelers, but also fans of extreme. Fans of the emerging new style in sports, called "sandboarding", literally occupied the area, rolling on special boards from sand dunes.
• More recently, copper deposits have been discovered, and in the town of Chuquicamata there are working mines for its extraction.

The world's driest desert, the photo of which is adorned with brochures offering fascinating travel to Chile travel companies, is a real phenomenon. The dead, at first glance, the territory is full of miracles, proving that even in such a territory life triumphs.