MicroFactzzz#0169 · 🌍 Strange Earth
In Parts of This Desert, It Hasn't Rained in Hundreds of Years
Chile's Atacama Desert is one of the driest places on Earth — in some regions, rainfall has been practically nonexistent for decades.
Chile's Atacama Desert sits in the rain shadow of the Andes and a cold ocean current, making it one of the driest places on Earth — some weather stations there have recorded essentially zero rainfall for decades.
The extreme dryness and sparse biological life make the Atacama's landscape so Mars-like that scientists actually test equipment and procedures there for planned Mars missions.
Despite its apparent lifelessness, some organisms — mostly microorganisms adapted to extreme water stress — manage to survive in Atacama's rocks and soil, making it a valuable place to study the limits of life on Earth.
Paradoxically, once every several years or so, unusual weather patterns bring moisture over the Atacama, and the desert can briefly burst into bloom with millions of flowers — a phenomenon known as the "blooming desert."
Sources
- General knowledge / encyclopedic sources
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