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The Atacama |
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The Atacama is virtually a rainless plateau of South America extending for about 966 kilometers between Andes mountain and the Pacific Ocean. It is created by the rain shadow of the Andes east of the desert. The major portion of it lies in Chile but part of it also lie in Peru, Bolivia and Argentina. This is basically a salt basin made up of sand and lava flow and is 100 times more arid than California's Death Valley.
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The Atacama desert is the driest place on earth and is absolutely sterile because it is blocked from moisture from both sides by Andes mountain and by the coastal mountain. It is situated right next to the Pacific Ocean. Unlike the more familiar deserts, like the Sahara in Africa and Mojave in California, Atacama is actually a pretty cold place with average temperature ranging from 0°C to 25°C.
The annual rainfall defines a desert but that does not mean that it never rains in Atacama. |
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During the years of heavy rainfall in distant past, enough water is accumulated in basins throughout the Andes to create lakes. But the lakes are now drying up because water lost in evaporation is not replaced by rainfall.
In the higher elevation when precipitation comes rainfall is replaced by snowfall. There are small patches of unmelted snow in the mountain tops that melts when it gets warm. South America is the fourth largest continent of the world and is mostly situated in the Southern hemisphere. This is a continent of great geographical diversity. Geologically, the continent became attached to North America only in recent times through the Isthamus of Panama. The continent has a number of attractions that attracts tourists from all over the world. The important attractions include: the Andes, Atacama desert, Lake Titicaca, the Pantanal and so forth.
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