a phenomenon that has never been observed in the Chilean Atacama desert

Precipitation

Moderately fertile phenomenon of nature

Precipitation type

And mushroom and torrential

Large, fractionally frequented, watered the whole earth

An excuse to open an umbrella

weather phenomenon

Downpour background

mushroom waterer

What is behind the storm

There was a lanky one, he got stuck in the damp earth. (mystery)

. “Thin, long, but sit in the grass - you can’t see” (riddle)

Film by Ingmar Bergman "...over our love"

Ridley Scott's Black...

Bad weather, under which the bunny remained

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

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

. “what is taller than a forest and finer than a hair?” (mystery)

The woodcock, when hungry, can lightly tap the ground with its beak, causing worms to crawl out to the surface and imitating just that.

Drummer on the roof

. “He came from heaven, he left for the earth” (riddle)

Precipitation that made a puddle

An excuse to open an umbrella

. “People are waiting for me, calling, and when I come to them, they run away” (riddle)

. “the lanky walked, got stuck in the ground” (riddle)

. "seems... going!"

Precipitation like a bucket

An excuse to open an umbrella

Golden image of Zeus

Pouring...

Tears of autumn

Free watering

B. Pasternak's poem

A poem by the 19th-century Russian poet A. Bestuzhev

Atmospheric precipitation in the form of water droplets

Cloud tears

Knocking on the roof

Cry of autumn

. "summer ...", Talkov

. "sang-...", Kuzmin

Atmospheric torrential mokrushnik

He's falling though they say "He's coming"

. “one rain still not...”

1 of 3 components of a thunderstorm

Best weather for umbrellas

Inflamed snowfall

Squealer

Summer analogue of winter snow

snitch

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 precipitation of tiny dust particles during dust storms

About something. falling in multitude

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

. "One little rain yet..."

. "Summer...", Talkov

Rain, dozhzh, dozhzhik, dozhik m. water in drops or jets from the clouds. (Ancient dezhg; dezhgem, rain; dezhgevy, rain; degiti, rain). Sitnicek, the finest rain; downpour, torrential, heaviest; slanting, underlay, slanting rain, in the direction of a strong wind. Terrible rain, with a thunderstorm; wet rains, autumn, prolonged bad weather. Scrap, hut, chicher, mold, snow and rain. Hay, rain during mowing. Drizzle, beads, the smallest rain, even finer than the rush. Bathing or rolling rain, a sieve, in baths and baths, through which water pours as 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 was to the bone. The rain did not leave a dry thread; got wet 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 boxfish. Like rain in May, so will rye. God grant rain, and rye will be born. God give rain, give and rye. Rain like a bucket. God forbid the rain, in a thick vozzhu! Heavy rain is not a problem. Rain drop by drop, dew drop by drop. After Kazan, it will rain, all the holes will pour. Rain will pour holes on Kazanskaya, bring winter, October It’s raining rain, water it with a ladle! hello rain. Mother of God, give rain to our barley, to the master's hops! hello rain. From the rain, yes (or no) into the water. It was bad weather, but the rain prevented. Either rain or snow, either it will or it won't. Rain covered, wind fenced housing. Not in the rain: let's stand, let's wait. Not in the rain, wait. Wet rain, but naked robbery is not afraid. Rain on young happiness. Rain is rye for a man, and louse for a barge hauler. Rain, dozzhevoy, church. rainy, coming from rain, bringing rain, related to rain. Dozzheva cloud. Rain water is fresher and softer than any other. Jumped up like a rain bubble (like a blister) Big rain bubbles, to the rains. Rainy day or year, abundant with rain, rains; rainy region, strip, area, abundant rains. Raincoat, raincoat, dozhevik m. filthy Lycoperdon mushroom, hare potato, purhavka, bee sponge, bzdyuh, tobacconist, damn tavlinka. A raincoat is not a mushroom, an upstart is not a pointer. Random man that raincoat: jumped up and burst. Rain or earthworm, used. for the profit of fishing rods. Rainy tub, under roofing, downpipes. Dozzhukha rain water, in any use. Wash linen in dozhuha. When there is rain (rot) in the hay, then there is a bucket in the bin, that is, bread will be born well. Rain, sprinkle with rain, send rain. It's been raining again. canopy waited. It rained on the fields. Waited, cleared up. At least wait. The whole day passed. The Lord will rain on the fields. Pop will rain as a sprinkler. Impersonal go rain. It's raining outside. Reach out to arch. impersonal rain, go rain. In the yard it will dozhatsya, it will rain. Rain gauge, obromometer, a projectile that measures the amount of falling rain. rain-bearing, rain-bearing, bringing, giving birth to rain

He falls, although they say: "He goes"

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

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

Film by Ingmar Bergman "...over our love"

Ridley Scott's Black...

Crying snowfall

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

Some orthodox scientists, such as Stanford School of Medicine microbiology professor Harry Nolan, have concluded that this is a mutated person. However, there were also brighter heads, such as Ramon Navia Osorio, an employee of the Spanish Institute of Exobiological Research, who cited as evidence that Ata is not a person, at least a dozen inconsistencies between a person 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-famous scientist Brian Foerster, who has repeatedly encountered unusual remains of people (or aliens). According to him, the skull was covered with gray skin, not affected by time. The thickness of the skull bone is not 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 a person. Currently, samples of bone and skin tissues have been sent for examination to several laboratories in North America - for DNA testing 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 of Ancient Egypt, who have heads that are just as strange from our point of view, which they had to hide from ordinary people under high headdresses.

However, it is not necessary to rely on the fact that scientists will soon make a sensational statement that an alien skull (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 all-powerful world forces are behind all this, which are not interested in the fact that information about extraterrestrial civilizations spread too quickly and widely - only in certain metered portions. And therefore, it is best not at the level of scientific communities, but at the level of ufological sites, the authenticity of which information is not believed by everyone ...

Video: Another Ata found in the Atacama Desert?

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

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

Here the temperature during the day can rise to + 50 ° C, at night it can drop to - 25 ° C. However, the average temperature is + 20 ° C. According to the temperature value, this desert can be considered cool when compared with the Sahara. However, Atacama is the only desert where the air is practically devoid of moisture. Humidity approaches 0. Precipitation is extremely rare, up to 10 mm per year, sometimes once every 10-15 years. There are places where it has not rained for centuries. That is why it turns out that Atacama is the driest place on Earth.

What is the phenomenon of Atacama aridity?

Why does it not rain in this desert and how is it that Atacama is the driest desert? If we look at its geographical position, the question immediately arises: "How did the desert form, which is located next to the ocean?".

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 are mountains - the Andes, which do not allow moist air to pass further. In contact with mountain peaks, the air cools and precipitation forms: heavy rains or snowfalls. Most of the precipitation falls at the foot of the mountains, thereby replenishing the Amazon River basin. It can be assumed that, thanks to the Andes mountain system, the Amazon River is considered the most full-flowing river in the world.

On the other side of the desert is the Pacific Ocean, where the Peruvian current cools the lower layers of the atmosphere and a natural phenomenon is formed when, instead of lowering the temperature with increasing altitude, the opposite happens - it increases. This natural phenomenon prevents precipitation, resulting in the formation of haze and fog.

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

And so it turns out:

• - Discharged air;
• - Andes, not passing precipitation;
• - The 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 water?

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

Vegetation practically does not grow in the desert, only some types of lichens, algae and cacti. It was cacti that told people how to get water in this arid desert. Since fogs often occur in the desert, people built structures that looked like cacti. Cylinders with a human growth, 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 water from - from the fog! Approximately 10-18 liters of water can be extracted in this way every day.

In the desert there is also the Loa River, which originates in the Andes and flows into the Pacific Ocean. Small forests of mesquite trees, acacias, and cacti sprout along the coast of the river. In total, there are 160 species of cacti, 90 of which are unique - they sprout 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 practically lifeless territory - Atacama, became the cause of enmity 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 Atacama there are rich deposits of copper, iron, sodium nitrate, saltpeter, iodine. Here is the largest deposit of copper ore.

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 nearest 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. In the Atacama, corpses do not decompose.

Everything is simple here, since the desert is very dry, because of the lack of moisture, the corpses do not decompose. They simply 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. Surprisingly, despite the difficult climatic conditions, the population of the desert is more than a million.

Fact number 4. It snowed in the desert

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

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

Unusual landscape landscapes make Atacama a popular filming location. For example, in the movie "Quantum of Solace" there are several episodes with landscapes of this desert. The scenery was also built here and the shooting of the series “Space Odyssey: Journey to the Planets” was carried out. NACA scientists have also taken a fancy to these almost lifeless expanses. In the Moon Valley, due to the similarity with the surface of Mars, the first tests of rovers were carried out in 2003.

site version.

History 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 the Atacama. A powerful fortress built 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 a vast area of ​​the desert remained virtually untouched. After the liberation of the South American countries from the dominion of the Spanish crown, the situation in the vicinity of Atacama changed dramatically, the question of the division of the territory immediately arose. Since there were no definite boundaries between the regions, Chile, Bolivia and Peru began to have a fierce debate about the right to claim the largest piece of the desert. When rich deposits of saltpeter were discovered here, this “added fuel” to the increasingly brighter dispute, which could not be peacefully resolved - the conflict resulted in the Second Pacific War (1879-1883), also called "Saltpeter War", which ended in favor of Chile.

In the 80s. 19th century here began to grow in a multitude of mining villages. The saltpeter 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 undermined the extraction of natural saltpeter in Chile in the late 1930s and early 1940s. If earlier saltpeter production accounted for almost 50% of the country's gross national product, in a few decades its production has practically vanished. Only in some settlements the extraction of nitrates is still going on, the rest of the settlements have been closed. Today, the Atacama Desert is dotted with approximately 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 "Death Valley" in California: there has not been significant precipitation for more than 4 centuries, the riverbeds have been dry for more than 120 thousand years. In some places in the region, rain occurs once every few decades. For example, the average rainfall in the Chilean region (Spanish Antofagasta) is only 1 mm per year. The Atacama has 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.

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, it is characterized by sandy and rocky dunes, as well as salt marshes. The rivers descending from the Andes Mountains to the eastern extremities of the desert erode the salt marshes, forming salt lakes, which, drying up under the hot rays of the sun, create a thick salt cover. Over time, this glittering cover is destroyed, forming lagoons - the favorite habitats of numerous flocks of flamingos and coots.

Most of the desert area is located in the mountains. The local mountains, reaching a height of 7 thousand meters, do not have glaciers. Due to the high location above the sea level and the rarefied atmosphere, there is a high intensity of solar radiation here.

Altiplano

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

The flora and fauna of the Altiplano are rich and varied. Vicuna (a type of llama) and viscacha (a type of chinchilla) are found here. The flora includes such rare plants as llareta (Spanish Llareta), better known as a pillow plant, and kenoa or kinva (Kech. Kinwa) - a type of tree that grows the highest in the world.

Flora and fauna

The vegetation of the flat area of ​​the desert is rather sparse. But, despite the unusually harsh conditions, more than 160 species of small cacti grow here. In places there are thorny shrubs, lichens and blue-green algae. The 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 Isluga National Park(Spanish: Parque Nacional de Isluga) and National Park, Lauca Biosphere Reserve (Spanish: Parque Nacional de Lauca).

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

In some local areas, life is almost impossible - there are no even scorpions and ticks. However, coastal cliffs become a habitat for 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, salt and borax. Between Bolivia and Chile since 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 is deprived of sufficient rainfall is due to a phenomenon called " rain shadow"(Eng. Rain shadow). In the way of 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, cooling, fall out in the form of rain. The same Andes, in which the full-flowing (the largest river in the world, fed by abundant tropical rains) originates, are the reason that there is almost never any precipitation in the Atacama.

It's a paradox, but the driest and wettest places on the planet coexist side by side, in fact, "side by side"!

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

The walls of the cylinders are made of nylon threads, on which the mist condenses and through which the water flows into the tank. This device allows you to collect up to 20 liters per day. water fit for drinking.

Population

Surprisingly, today more than 1 million people live in the driest desert, who are concentrated in oasis cities, coastal villages, mining towns and fishing villages. In the coastal part of the Atacama, with ideally clear skies, there are international bases for astronomers. In its northern regions, farmers grow olives, tomatoes and cucumbers, extracting water for irrigation from deep aquifers. A chain of snow-covered mountain peaks feeds valleys and oases with moisture, so that the native Indians can grow crops, breed llamas and alpacas.

Atacama Desert Attractions

Today, the most famous of the cities of Atacama 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 local wonders.

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

Another striking attraction is the so-called "Desert Blossom", which occurs when moist air masses from the Pacific Ocean bring long-awaited moisture here. Usually "flowering" occurs in September-October. When the desert blooms, this fantastic sight strikes with a riot of colors, diversity and uniqueness of plants, about 200 species of which are found nowhere else in the world.

Desert bloom

To the east of San Pedro de Atacama is one of the most amazing places on earth - the Valley of the Moon (Spanish: Valle de la Luna), whose landscape resembles the surface of the moon. Unique formations of salt, stone and sand, blown by the wind for centuries, have acquired bizarre shapes. Amazing salt figures, especially fantastic looking in the moonlight, are considered the guardians of the valley.

Moon Valley (Valle de la Luna)

Curious facts

• 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.
• It stretches along the Pacific coast for a thousand kilometers, while its width is from 100 to 200 km. Its coastal part is sandwiched between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes.
• The oldest on the planet, Atacama is also the "highest" desert of the 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 northern Chile, from where you can go on an unforgettable excursion.
  
• Local winds, despite the proximity of the ocean, do not contain moisture. This is due to the fact that a cold one flows from Antarctica not far from the Chilean coast. Air masses, falling into the zone of its influence, quickly cool. As a result, they are unable to lift moisture from the surface of the water. They just don't get enough heat.
• On May 19, 2010, an incredible phenomenon happened - real snow fell in Atacama! Snowdrifts piled up such that they disrupted road communication, communications and power supply.
• Since the desert passed into the possession of Chile, small workers' settlements began to grow around saltpeter deposits. They can be seen today. But now they are abandoned and are called "Ghost Towns".
• From the point of view of water procedures, Laguna Cejar (Spanish: Laguna Cejar) is very interesting. This alpine lake is a 40% saline solution, bathing in which is comparable in sensations to swimming in the Israeli Dead Sea - the water itself holds.
• In the most remote part Los Flamencos National Reserve(Spanish Reserva Nacional Los Flamencos - “Flamingo Reserve”; 4.6 thousand m above sea level) is the salt lake Tara (Spanish Lago de Tara), where a wonderful bird is found - flamingos.
• Lovers of skiing down the sand dunes on the board prefer to come here too. This relatively new form of sports is called sandboarding.
• Seeds and bulbs of numerous plants are able to "standby" rain for many years. To restore their vital activity, they need only 15 mm of moisture per year.
• Of the 160 species of cacti growing here, more than half (90 species) are endemic.
• Since 2003, the American Space Agency NASA, as part of a project to study the surface of Mars, has been using the impenetrable dry areas of the “Moon Valley” to test its “rovers”.
• 
  A particularly interesting place to visit in the region is 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 powerfully pushed out of the bowels of the earth to the surface.
• Located at an altitude of 4200 m above sea level, El Tatio is the largest geyser field in the Southern Hemisphere and the 3rd largest in the world after Yellowstone National Park (USA) and the Valley of Geysers (Russia, Kamchatka ).
• The lack of water greatly complicates the life of people in the Atacama, but the extreme dryness has its advantages. The desert has rich saltpeter deposits. In the past, it served as a raw material for the production of 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 its preservation.
• There are rich deposits of copper ore here. In the town (Spanish: Chuquicamata) there are the world's largest open-pit copper mines.
• 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 discovered well-preserved mummies of the Indians. Many of them are over 9,000 years old.
• The famous mysterious sculpture "Hand of the Desert", unfortunately, is a permanent subject for graffiti. 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 because of its dryness, the flora and fauna are not rich. However, the people of Chile have learned to cope with the peculiarities of their desert, extract water and organize exciting tours of sand mounds.

Key Features of the Atacama Desert

Many have heard what Atacama is famous for, but do not know in which hemisphere it is located 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 of more than 105 thousand square kilometers belongs to Chile and borders on Peru, Bolivia and Argentina.

Despite the fact that this is a desert, the climate here can hardly be called sultry. Day and night temperatures fluctuate moderately and vary with altitude. Moreover, Atacama can even be called a cold desert: in summer there are no more than 15 degrees of heat, and in winter the temperature rises to an average of 20 degrees. Due to the low humidity of the air, glaciers do not form high in the mountains. The temperature difference at different times of the day causes frequent fogs, this phenomenon is more inherent in 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 scientists, there has been no water in them for more than a hundred thousand years. Now these areas are islands-oases, where flowering plants are still found.

Reasons for the formation of the desert area

The emergence 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. This is where most of the rainfall that forms the Amazon Basin lingers. Only a small fraction of them sometimes reaches 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, moisture should get, but this does not happen because of the cold Peruvian current. In this area, there is such a phenomenon as temperature inversion: 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 Atacama

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

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

Near the ocean, there are entire colonies of birds that nest on the rocks and get food from the sea. Animals here can only be found close to human settlements, in particular, they also breed them. Very popular species in the Atacama desert are alpacas and llamas, which are able to endure the lack of water.

Man's exploration of the desert

The inhabitants of Chile are not afraid of the lack of water in the 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 they build small cities, but even arid areas have already learned how to cultivate and get an insignificant harvest 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 from where they get water. They called them fog eliminators. The design 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.

Previously, 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 the 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 of its features 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 the burial places of Indians, whose bodies dried up thousands of years ago.

In May 2010, a strange phenomenon for these places happened - the snow fell with such force that huge snowdrifts appeared in the cities, making it difficult to move on the road. As a result, there were failures in the operation of power plants and the observatory. No one 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 called 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 Center for Space Research conducted tests of the rover in this area.

Closer to the Andes, the desert turns into a plateau, on which one of the largest geyser fields in the world is located. El Tatio was born from the volcanic activity of the Andes and has become another amazing part of the unique desert.

Landmarks of the Chilean desert

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 Irarrasabal, 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, in the city of La Noria, which had long been abandoned by the inhabitants, a strange desiccated body was found. According to its constitution, they could not attribute it 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 to whom it actually belongs.