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Introduction

Chile´s Atacama desert is a high coastal desert bounded by the Pacific coastal range on the west and the Andes mountains on the east. The 20,850 square mile (54,000 square kilometer) Atacama desert is the world´s driest, with some of its regions having never recorded any significant rainfall in modern years.

A wide variety of unique geological features give the Atacama an otherworldly character. The presence of active volcanoes, dry salt basins left over from the evaporation of ancient inland seas, and uniquely weathered rock formations have created landscapes that some compare to the surface of Mars or the moon.

The vast majority of recorded rainfall in the Atacama occurs in the higher elevations of the Andes, as evidenced by the collection of low-lying grasses and other sparse vegetation in these higher, colder climes. Outside of the scattered oases within the Atacama plateau, the remainder of the desert is almost completely devoid of vegetation.

With the onset of the industrial revolution in the late nineteenth century, the Atacama desert became a magnet of mining activity, due to the region´s high concentration of numerous minerals. The presence of nitrates, copper, iron ore, lithium, gold and silver contributed to a series of mining booms in the region.

Today, a growing tourist trade is contributing to the economic vitality of the region. The unique geological features discussed in this section are all popular tourist attractions. Additionally, the Atacama has recently become the focus for a number of radio astronomical research projects, which are clustered within a government designated science preserve on the Llano de Chajnantor located 24 miles (40 kilometers) to the east of San Pedro.