Why is there a desert west of the Andes Mountains in Chile?
Table of Contents
- 1 Why is there a desert west of the Andes Mountains in Chile?
- 2 What is the cause of the Atacama Desert in Chile?
- 3 Which desert is the driest place on Earth?
- 4 What happened in the Atacama Desert in Chile in 1971?
- 5 Why is the driest place on Earth is the Atacama Desert High in the Andes Mountains of South America?
- 6 What is driest desert in the world?
- 7 What causes deserts to form?
- 8 What is the latitude range of the desert?
Why is there a desert west of the Andes Mountains in Chile?
Geographically, the aridity of the Atacama is explained by it being situated between two mountain chains (the Andes and the Chilean Coast Range) of sufficient height to prevent moisture advection from either the Pacific or the Atlantic Oceans, a two-sided rain shadow.
What is the cause of the Atacama Desert in Chile?
Why is the Atacama Desert so dry? The first reason is that the desert sits on the wrong side of the Andes with regards to prevailing winds. As pictured above, the prevailing south-east trade winds carrying moist air are forced to rise. The moisture condenses, and falls on the opposite side of the Andes to the Atacama.
What is one of the reasons for the excessive dryness of the Atacama Desert?
Cold air can’t hold as much water vapor as warm air so it dries out any water left in the air. This mix of mountains, winds, and ocean currents combines to make the Atacama incredibly dry. The Atacama is also one of the oldest deserts in the world.
What is the average temperature of the Atacama Desert?
Old, hot and dry In other deserts around the world, like the Sahara, the mercury can soar above 130 degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees Celsius). But temperatures in the Atacama are comparatively mild throughout the year. The average temperature in the desert is about 63 degrees F (18 degrees C).
Which desert is the driest place on Earth?
The Atacama
The Atacama is the driest place on earth, other than the poles. It receives less than 1 mm of precipitation each year, and some areas haven’t seen a drop of rain in more than 500 years.
What happened in the Atacama Desert in Chile in 1971?
Flooding hits Chile’s Atacama desert. The worst flooding in over a decade. Hundreds forced from their homes. Hundreds of people have been forced from their homes after four days of heavy rain brought flooding to Chile’s Atacama Desert.
Where is the Atacama Desert located on a world map?
Chile
The Atacama Desert (Spanish: Desierto de Atacama) is a desert plateau in South America covering a 1,600 km (990 mi) strip of land on the Pacific coast, west of the Andes Mountains….
| Atacama Desert | |
|---|---|
| Area | 104,741 km2 (40,441 sq mi) |
| Country | Chile, Peru |
| Coordinates | 24°30′S 69°15′WCoordinates: 24°30′S 69°15′W |
| Conservation |
Where is the Atacama Desert located answers?
The correct answer is Chile. The Atacama Desert is located in northern Chile. It is a dry and arid region. It is considered to be the driest desert in the world.
Why is the driest place on Earth is the Atacama Desert High in the Andes Mountains of South America?
Why is the Atacama Desert so dry? The Atacama Desert is located in a zone called the “shadow of rain”. Basically, there is an absence of rains and high evaporation. These natural, complex, and dynamic factors make the Atacama Desert an incredibly dry place.
What is driest desert in the world?
Is the Atacama Desert the hottest place on earth?
The Atacama Desert. Although the 40,441-square-mile (104,741-square-kilometer) Atacama Desert of Chile and Peru is a very hot desert with daytime temperatures hovering around 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) in the hot season, some places in the world get hotter.
Which is the 2nd driest place on Earth?
the Atacama Desert
The second driest place is the Atacama Desert, stretching 600 miles from Peru’s southern border into northern Chile along the Pacific Coast. No precipitation falls in the Dry Valleys and none for a few years at a time in portions of the Atacama.
What causes deserts to form?
Deserts form in general from the high atmospheric pressure and cold air that comes from the upper altitudes nearby. The heat from the sun causes high ground temperatures with low humidity. The fact that glaciers have been retreating during the past 8,000 to 10,000 years is a major contributing factor to the formation of deserts.
What is the latitude range of the desert?
Transcript of Desert Biome. The latitude range is 15-28° north and south of the equator. Their global range covers about 1/5 of the earth, including the world’s great deserts: Sahara , Sonora , Thar , Kalahari and the Great Australian.
What is the latitude and longitude of the desert biome?
Latitude Longitude Summary. The Latitude of desert is 33.8836. The Longitude of desert is -116.6074. The Latitude and Longitude of desert is 33.8836 and -116.6074 respectively. 33.8836 Latitude and -116.6074 Longitude can be mapped to closest address of Sahara, Palm Springs, CA 92262, USA.
Why and how do deserts form?
What Causes Deserts to Form? Mountains. When air makes contact with mountains, it has to rise above them. Air Pressure. According to the New Mexico State University College of Agriculture, most desert areas in the world lie in a belt 25 degrees to either side of the equator. Cold Air. Near the poles, little rainfall occurs because of the extremely cold temperatures.