AnswersDriveFirst, this desert is located in the "rain shadow" between two mountain ranges, the Andes and the Chilean Coast Range. Second, winds called the Pacific Anticyclone flow through this area. Those winds blow dry air into the Atacama Desert. This cold ocean current cools the air above it.
Also to know is, what is the name of the driest desert in the world?
Desierto de Atacama
Is the Atacama Desert the driest place on Earth?
The Atacama Desert is commonly known as the driest nonpolar place in the world, especially the surroundings of the abandoned Yungay town (in Antofagasta Region, Chile).
Why is the Atacama desert so important?
Another important reason is that the Andes Range runs along the Atacama Desert, acting as a formidable natural barrier from the moisture of the Amazon; the rain shadow effect. The windward side of a mountain range is moist and lush because of this precipitation.
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What is the coldest desert in the world?
Here is the list of world's coldest deserts you need to visit this summer season to beat the heat.
- Greenland. Greenland is the world's largest non- continental and coldest desert.
- Gobi.
- Arctic.
- Great Basin.
- Namib.
- Turkestan.
- Antarctica.
- Atacama.
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What is the wettest place in the world?
The Ten Wettest Places In The World
- Mawsynram, India. Mawsynram, located in the Meghalaya State in India, is the wettest place in the world, with an annual rainfall of 11,871 millimeters.
- Cherrapunji, India. 15 kilometers from Mawsynram is the second wettest place in the world.
- Tutendo, Colombia.
- Cropp River, New Zealand.
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How dry is the Atacama Desert?
The 'driest place on Earth' is covered in pink flowers after a crazy year of rain. The Atacama Desert in Chile, known as the driest place on Earth, is awash with color after a year's worth of extreme rainfall. In an average year, this desert is a very dry place.
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What is the hottest desert in the world?
According to several sources, the highest land surface temperature ever recorded was 136° F in the Sahara Desert, at El Azizia, Libya, on September 22, 1922. Some people dispute this record, though, because of the way it was measured.
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Is the Atacama Desert Hot or cold?
The Atacama is the driest hot desert in the world. There are some weather stations in the Atacama where there has never been any rain! Not all deserts are hot. The Dry Valleys in Antarctica are cold deserts.
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What is the weather like in the Atacama Desert?
Oddly enough, the Atacama is a cold place with temperatures somewhere between 0 and 25 degrees Celsius. You might think deserts never get any rain but think again. Once in a while a warming effect over the Pacific Ocean affects weather all over the world so even the driest places can be drenched by rainstorms.
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Why is Antarctica considered to be a desert?
Despite its thick ice, Antarctica is classified as a desert because so little moisture falls from the sky. The inner regions of the continent receive an average of 2 inches (50 millimeters) of precipitation — primarily in the form of snow — each year. More rain falls in the Sahara desert.
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What are some animals that live in the Atacama Desert?
Mammals. Because of the desert's extreme aridity, only a few specially adapted mammal species live in the Atacama. Darwin's leaf-eared mouse eats grass, insects and seeds. The South American gray fox, also omnivorous, lives on eggs, fruit, lizards, rodents, seeds and even scorpions.
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What country is the Atacama Desert located in?
Atacama Desert, Spanish Desierto de Atacama, cool, arid region in northern Chile, 600 to 700 miles (1,000 to 1,100 km) long from north to south. Its limits are not exactly determined, but it lies mainly between the south bend of the Loa River and the mountains separating the Salado-Copiapó drainage basins.
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What is the elevation of the Atacama Desert?
San Pedro de Atacama lies at the entrance to the driest desert on earth, the Atacama Desert. The town itself sits at an average of 2,407 metres, just over the threshold for altitude sickness so a minority of visitors experience mild discomfort such as dizziness or headaches.
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Why Antarctica is one of the driest places on earth?
The driest place on Earth is in Antarctica in an area called the Dry Valleys, which have seen no rain for nearly 2 million years. There is absolutely no precipitation in this region and it makes up a 4800 square kilometer region of almost no water, ice or snow.
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How do the guanacos get water from the Atacama Desert in Chile?
Atacama Desert. Some guanacos live in the Atacama Desert, where in some areas it has not rained for over 50 years. Winds carry the fog across the desert, where cacti catch the water droplets and lichens that cling to the cacti soak it in like a sponge.
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Where is the Namib Desert located?
Lying between a high inland plateau and the Atlantic Ocean, the Namib Desert extends along the coast of Namibia, merging with the Kaokoveld Desert into Angola in the north and south with the Karoo Desert in South Africa.
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What ocean does Chile border?
Diego Ramírez Islands and Cape Horn, the southernmost points in the Americas, where the Pacific and Atlantic oceans turbulently meet, are Chilean territory. Chile's northern neighbors are Peru and Bolivia, and its border with Argentina to the east, at 5,150 km (3,200 mi), is the world's third longest.
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Where is the mountain Andes?
The Andes extend from north to south through seven South American countries: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. Along their length, the Andes are split into several ranges, which are separated by intermediate depressions.
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Are the Andes mountains still growing today?
Andes mountains formed by 'growth spurts' It's been understood that the Andes mountain range has been growing as the Nazca oceanic plate slips underneath the South American continental plate, causing the Earth's crust to shorten (by folding and faulting) and thicken.
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What is the highest city in South America?
The Highest Cities in South America
- La Rinconada. Sitting at an elevation of 5,130 meters above sea level, La Rinconada is the highest permanent settlement worldwide.
- Parinacota. Parinacota is a tiny hamlet in the highlands of Chile.
- Cerro de Pasco.
- El Alto.
- Potosi.
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What is the highest city in the world?
Settlements below 4,700 metres (15,400 ft)
| Altitude | Name | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| 3,658 metres (12,001 ft) | Lhasa, Tibet | Population 216,663 (2010). |
| 3,650 metres (11,980 ft) | La Paz | Population 758,845 (2012)Bolivian seat of government; the highest capital city in the world. |
| 3,548 metres (11,640 ft) | Sicuani | Population 42,551 (2007). |
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What is the highest city in the United States?
Its United States Post Office is located at the highest elevation of any in the country. Alma, which is a town, did not take the title as highest incorporated city from Leadville, Colorado, as is commonly believed. Leadville is still the highest incorporated city in North America.