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The average width (east-and-west) is less than 160 kilometers (100 miles) but it extends from the Peruvian border 1000 kilometers (600 miles) south to the Bolivian Altiplano. The mountains nearest the ocean are the Pacific coastal range, with an average elevation of 800 meters (2500 feet). The Cordillera Domeyko , a range of foothills of the Andes Mountains, lies east.
The Atacama Desert is the driest desert of the globe (except perhaps for the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antartica) and it is virtually sterile because it is blocked from moisture on both sides by the Andes mountains and by coastal mountains. The average rainfall in Antofagasta per annum is just 3mm per year, and there was a period of time where no rain fell there for 40 years. The Atacama is 15 million years old and 50 times more arid than California's Death Valley. The driest part of the Atacama is an area called the 'double rain shadow.' In 2003 a team of researchers published a report in Science magazine titled "Mars-like Soils in the Atacama Desert, Chile, and the Dry Limit of Microbial Life" in which they duplicated the tests used by the Viking 1The Viking 1 was the first of two spacecraft sent to Mars as part of NASA's Viking program. For a description of the spacecraft, see the Viking program article. Mission Following launch on 20 August 1975 and a 10 month cruise to Mars, the orbiter began re and Viking 2Frost on Mars. 9/12/77(Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech. The Viking 2 mission was part of the Viking program to Mars, and consisted of an orbiter and a lander essentially identical to that of the Viking 1 mission. Mission profile Following launch and a 333 day c MarsMars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the solar system, named after the Roman god of war (the counterpart of the Greek Ares), on account of its blood red color as viewed in the night sky. Mars has two small moons, Phobos and Deimos, both small and odd landers to detect life, and were unable to detect any signs in Atacama Desert soil. The region may be unique on Earth in this regard.
The Atacama has rich deposits of copperCopper is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. Notable characteristics Copper is a reddish-coloured metal, with a high electrical and thermal conductivity (among pure metals at room temperature, only silver and other mineralMinerals are natural compounds formed through geological processes. The term "mineral" encompasses not only the material's chemical composition but also the mineral structures. Minerals range in composition from pure elements and simple salts to very comps, and the world's largest natural supply of sodium nitrateProperties General Name Sodium nitrate Chemical formula Na NO Appearance White solid Physical Formula weight 85. 0 amu Melting point 580 K (307 °C) Boiling point decomposes at 653 K (380 °C) Density 2. 3 ×103 kg/ m3 Crystal structure ? Solubility 92 g in, which was mined on a large scale until the early 1940sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s Years: 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 Events and trends Technology First nuclear bomb First cruise missile, the. The Atacama border disputeThe Atacama border dispute began in the 1800s over the Atacama Desert, a section of northern Chile. The Atacama Desert is bordered by the Coast Range on the west and the Andes on the east. The geography of the area was a very large factor in determining h between Chile and Bolivia began in the 1800s over these resources.
The Atacama is inhabited, though sparsely populated. The Pan-American Highway runs through the Atacama, and in the center of the desert, at an altitude of some 2000 meters, is the village of San Pedro de Atacama. Its church is recent, having been erected by the Spanish in 1577, but archeological evidence indicates that the San Pedro area was the center of a Paleolithic civilization that built rock fortresses on the steep mountains encircling the valley. The Escondida Mine is also located within the Atacama.
The European Southern Observatory operates two major observatories in the Atacama desert: