Atacama Desert

The Atacama is one of the oldest deserts in the world. Scientists think parts of it have been dry for at least 20 million years and maybe as long as 40 million years.

During summer (January, February and March) the temperature fluctuates between 27°C (81°F) and a minimum of 16°C (61°F) at night. Hope this helps. The atacama desert is located in northern Chile and is the driest desert in the world!

The Andes Mountains and the Coastal Range shield the Atacama from receiving significant atmospheric moisture.

In the desert itself, some people make a living in the mining industry. Along the coasts, fishermen ply their trade. In the cities you ave the normal work that one would find in any city or town - banking, retail, wholesale and a host of other occupations. Except for some very small operations near isolated aquifers, there is virtually no farming in the desert.

The Tropic of Capricorn lies at 23° 26′ 16″ south of the Equator and runs just north of the city of Antofogasta in the Atacama Desert.

There is virtually no water in the Atacama so food cannot be grown there. Drinking water must be piped in from elsewhere and food trucked in from other areas. There is very little employment available except for some mining operations. Building materials for homes must be brought in from the outside. The weather is actually quite pleasant but living conditions are very difficult because of the location.

The average temperature (high) is about 25 degrees C (77 degrees F) but some areas can get even hotter. Lows in same areas may drop to near or below 0 degrees C. at night. It is considered a cool (or cold) desert. The temperature is moderated by the cold Pacific Ocean to the west.

Yes, there are few plants and animals that are able to survive in the arid environment.

The Atacama is located between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean.

it will probably be very hot and dry and there will be plants just they will be small hope that helps!:)

A desert is sometimes defined as an area with a rainfall of less than 250mm a year, therefore New Zealand does not have any significant areas of true desert. Some small areas of inland Otago and Canterbury in the South Island do have this low an annual rainfall, but only just.

Introduced wild mammals in these areas are mainly rabbits and hares. There are farmed sheep. As there are no native mammals in New Zealand (other than two types of bat) other animals in these areas are birds (such as the Australasian Harrier), insects and reptiles.

One reason for the misconception that New Zealand has desert is the name for one of the State highways in the central North Island being the Desert Road.

There are areas that receive little rain but dense fog moves in from the Pacific Ocean and provides enough moisture for lichens and a few cacti to survive. There are rare oasis were a few more plants can survive but these are quite uncommon. Most of the desert is devoid of plant life, however.

There are few species of spiders and scorpions in the Atacama and only in isolated areas. If any are seen in cities or towns they probably hitch-hiked in on freight shipments from other areas.

Some are able to get the moisture they need from the food they eat. Some are able to harvest some water from the dense fogs that occur in some parts of the Atacama.

Both the Amazon River and the Atacama Desert are located in South America.

Some of the plants that live in the Atacama Desert are salt bushes, buckwheat bushes, black bushes, rice grass, little leaf horse brush, black sage, and chrysothamnus. However, these plants only survive in areas where there is, at least, seasonal surface water or oasis. In some areas the only plants to be seen are a few lichens and cacti that survive from water vapor brought in by dense fog from the Pacific Ocean.

There are actually more then two factors:

1.) The high Andes Mountains to the east that block moisture from the Amazon Basin and Atlantic Ocean from reaching the Atacama.

2.) The coastal mountain ranges that prevent Pacific moisture from reaching the desert.

3.) The cold Humboldt Current in the Pacific brings cold water to the coastline that has little evaporation.

4.) A perpetual inversion layer hangs over the desert. The upper atmosphere is warmer than the surface air. This prevents convection that could form rain clouds.

5.) Even when there is evaporation from the Pacific, the prevailing winds are from the east and the moisture is blown in a westerly direction, away from the desert.

No current passes through the Atacama Desert but the Humbolt, or Peruvian Current, passes just off shore and has a great influence on the climate of the Atacama.

Both the Amazon and the Atacama desert owe their very existence to the Andes Mountains. The general flow of the atmosphere is from east to west in South America. As the Atlantic moisture is forced up the high Andes Mountains it drops most of its rain and snow on the eastern slopes that feed the Amazon River and its tributaries. Since the moisture has difficulty crossing the mountains, the western side lies in a rain shadow and little to no precipitation occurs, forming the Atacama Desert.

Technically, the Atacama is classified as a cold desert. In actuality, the climate is quite mild. The high temperature rarely rises above 80 degrees F and the low rarely drops below 32 degrees F. The temperature is moderated by the Atacama's close proximity to the Pacific Ocean.

the Atacama Desert is located in-between the Andes mountains and the Pacific Ocean

The prevailing winds are from the east and the tall Andes Mountains prevent any moisture from the Atlantic Ocean and Amazon basin from reaching the area. The Coastal Range prevents any moisture from the Pacific from reaching the Atacama. Rain does fall in some parts of the desert but it amounts to little more than a sprinkle.

The Atacama is located to the west of the Andes Mountains in northern Chile and southern Peru.

The Sahara Desert is a hot, sandy desert. Antarctica is a continent with a large desert covering much of it's surface. It is of course cold and much of it consists of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, although the dry valleys in the trans-antarctic mountains are not ice covered, and have sand dunes like more temperate deserts.

There are a number of large salares (salt lakes) in the Atacama Desert. Flamingos feed on small invertebrates and algae that are able to survive in water with a very high salt content. Flamingos are filter feeders. They insert their beaks into the water (with their heads upside down) and take in water along with food particles. They then filter out the water using their tongues and beaks and swallow the food.