Page 61 - Super Earth Encyclopedia

LETHAL

LANDSCAPE

ATACAMA DESERT

Few places on Earth are as dry as the Atacama Desert
in Chile. Some parts of this barren, rocky land have not
seen rain for at least 50 years. This makes the desert
the most hostile environment for life outside central
Antarctica. The only living things in the driest parts are
dormant bacteria—the same type of organisms that may
exist on Mars. In fact, the desert resembles the Martian
surface so closely that it has been used to test rover
vehicles sent to explore the red planet.

AT A GLANCE
• LOCATION Northern Chile

• AREA At least 41,000 sq miles
(105,000 sq km)
• DESERT TYPE Rocky and salty

• AVERAGE RAINFALL Less than
0.6 in (15 mm) per year

600 STATS AND FACTS
MILES
(960 KM) CLEAR SKIES RAINFALL
ALONG THE
COAST OF For more than The desert has
CHILE 300 days a year, been without
the Atacama has significant rainfall
EXTENT totally clear skies. for at least
3 million years.
The desert formed in
a region cut off from TEMPERATURE Daytime temperatures can
moist oceanic air reach 104°F (40°C); at night FORMIDABLE FORMATIONS
they may fall to 41°F (5°C).
by mountains.
°C 10 20 30 40
DRIEST
AVERAGE WIDTH °F 50 68 86 104

HOT DESERT
LESS THAN
100
MILES
(160 KM)
59

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