Atacama is the driest desert in the world

The Atacama Desert is located on the west coast of South America. Once before, she belonged to Bolivia, now, it is a territory of Chile. For today, yes indeed, as always, is the driest desert on the planet. Also, a very interesting fact that in some places of the desert, rain is so rare that it may take several years before the land becomes a bit wet.

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According to experts, the average rainfall is 1 millimeter per year. Some weather stations and is not recorded rainfall. Also in the desert you can see the mountains, the maximum height is 6885 meters. But what is most interesting is that there is no ice on the tops of mountains.

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Normally, the ice appears at an altitude of 4400 meters. And there is no ice only by the fact that the rivers on the mountain tops are virtually absent, or rather they are dry for the past 120 thousand years. Although the anomaly occurred in 2010, and was recorded and the snow is amazing.

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Also in the desert you can find huge deposits of copper and other no less important minerals. In order to collect the water, locals use such a device as «tumanolovitel». This cylinder wall is made of a material such as nylon. The mist settles and is converted into water. Using this device you can collect up to 18 liters of water. Also, despite the fact that the Atacama Desert is very dry, there are growing cacti and is not less than 160 species. In addition, there are about 200 species, mostly reptiles and insects. The most unusual place that there is a lunar valley. And the name is because the valley resembles the moon’s surface.

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Who knows what else in this desert keeps himself, because many places are not fully acquainted with. And who knows, in the future there can be detected. In the meantime, this place is not just beautiful, but also fascinating. It is very often to make films in the sci-fi style.