Get ready for a destination that takes all its stereotypes, and flips it on its head by proving to vacation goers that “secluded” and “driest”, doesn’t always mean boring.
It’s crazy to think that the Atacama is known to be the driest place on Earth, but as this Chilean desert has gone through many stages, experiencing semiarid conditions for the past 150 million years. Scientists believe that the desert’s inner core has been hyperarid for the past 15 million years, all thanks to a combination of unique geologic and atmospheric conditions in the area.
The Atacama Desert in northern Chile is a unique combination of environmental extremes. Its extreme dryness, high levels of saline and oxidizing soils, as well the highest UV radiation levels on Earth, give us a little insight as to why Nasa chooses this location year after year in order to test-drive its new Martian rovers.
The overwhelming aridity of the Atacama can be attributed to three factors; Its location within the southern hemisphere’s dry subtropical climate belt, the pronounced rain shadow effect created by the Andean Mountains that prevent the incoming of humid masses of air coming from the Amazon Basin, and the presence of the upwelling, north-flowing, cold Humboldt Current, which significantly helps with seawater evaporation and cloud formation.
FunFact: Since the South American plate has maintained its latitudinal position relatively in the same place for the past 150 million years, as a consequence, rains in some regions of the Atacama are as infrequent as once every 20 years!