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Cordillera, Death Valley and Valley of the Moon

The Salt Mountain Range lies on the eastern flank of the 435 mile (700 kilometer) long Domeyko Range, which runs parallel to the Andes to the west. Once the bottom of a great inland sea, these mountains formed over the past 2 million years through the activity of plate tectonics beneath the earth´s surface. The range is therefore streaked and dusted with white salt crystals.

Adjacent to the Salt Mountains and within a 15 minute drive from San Pedro are Death Valley and the Valley of the Moon, two popular geological features that are located adjacent to the Salt Mountain Range.

Death Valley is an area surrounded by eroded cliffs, small hills and sand dunes. Some of the dunes rise to over 300 feet (100 meters) in height, making this area a popular location for sandboarding.

The Valley of the Moon, 9 miles (15 kilometers) to the northwest of San Pedro, is a small depression of 1,600 feet (500 meters), at an altitude of 8,600 feet (2,624 meters) above sea level, surrounded by impressive cliffs with jagged crests. The Moon Valley is a popular place to watch the sunset, where visitors climb a 300-foot (100-meter) dune to access the cliffs above. The floor of the valley is crusted with mineral salt, and the surrounding hills also have a high saline content, which captures the azure of the evening sky and reflects it throughout the valley. The Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University and NASA also conducted tests on the new martian rover Nomad here in 1997.

The unique geology of the cordillera and the valleys are the result of deep transformations of the terrestrial crust, produced by successive foldings of the lacustrine bottom of the Atacama salt flats. In addition to the high saline content of the area, the rock formations comprise layers of chlorate, borate, calcium and clay, presenting diverse stratified forms.

photo by Christine Nguyen

The region is characterized by a number of dry salt basins left over from the evaporation of ancient inland seas. view slideshow


Links
The Atacama Desert Trek at Carnegie Melon University
The Nomad Rover at NASA
photo by Christine Nguyen
The volcanoes Licancabur and Juriques lie northeast of the Moon Valley. enlarge photo
photo by John Kondis
The unusual landscape of the Cordillera de la Sal was created by the weathering and wind erosion of salt mountains. The Cordillera de la Sal can be found three kilometers west of San Pedro de Atacama. view panorama