THE GEOLOGY OF THE ATACAMA

In the vicinity of the Salar de Atacam the lower plateau of the Atacama Desert runs into the Bolivian Altiplano. A higher formation , the Altiplano is one of the most active volcanic areas on Earth . It is also famous for ferocious winds that sweep across it shaping the rocks and terrain.

In the Altiplano, the tortured landscape shows all of the forces that can carve the land. Here you can see folding planes of mountain building, volcanic lava flows and the work of wind and water erosion.

SIGNS OF VOLCANOES

In this enlarged image of a small section of the Altiplano can be seen several good examples of the steep regular shape of volcanic cinder cones. (arrows)

The near perfect cone of a volcano.

In the circle is the almost pure black shape of the lava flow and ash field of a very recent volcano. Older examples lose the pure black to normal weathering. This particular example seems to be only a few years old.

CLIMATE

TRANSPORTATION

INDUSTRY

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EXPLAIN A MYSTERY

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	BACK TO GEOCAM
	Back to the Can Do Story
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