The Atacama Desert is found on which continent?

The Atacama Desert is a plateau in South America, It is located just west of the Andes, a 1000 km strip of land next to the Pacific Ocean. In spite of its location beside the sea, several studies have shown that this region is the driest place in the world. In the Antofagasta Region of the desert, the average annual rainfall is just 1mm and some weather stations have never received rain at all. Atacama is so arid that the surrounding mountains that reach up to 6,885 m, are completely void of any glaciers. The river beds that are present in the region have been suggested by scientists to have been dry for over 120,000 years.

However, unlike the Sahara and the Mojave deserts, Atacama is surprisingly not that hot. It has an average daily temperature between 0° and 25°. If you find that surprising, you’d be shocked to find out that this desert has lakes!

When there was rainfall in the region (many years ago), this accumulated water created what we now know as the Salt Lakes. The name of these lakes was given as a result of the effect of the Atacama environment: the long dry spells makes the water evaporate, resulting in the higher concentrations of salt in the remaining water.