Atacama Salt Flat

(Black Duck)

Atacama’s Salt flat is a depression of 1.864,11 miles square, at 7.562,34 feet of altitude. in the center of the most barren desert of the world. To better enjoy the beauty of this area is better to hire a San Pedro of Atacama tour which can help you explore every corner at its best.

Atacama’s Salt flat is the greater saline deposit of Chile whose surface, occupying an land extension of 62 miles length and 49,71 miles width. Salt pan is product of the underground water outcrop that, saturated of salts, evaporates leaving rich scabs in salt and minerals.

In Atacama’s Salt flat the salt scab has been opened to leave space to small lagoons that are favorite habitat of aquatic birds, flocks of flamenco, taguas and guallatas. have established their habitat here, one of these lagoons is the  Chaxa lagoon part of Los Flamencos National Reserve, located 34, 8 miles to the south of San Pedro de Atacama.

A true Chilean astronomical landmark appears in this place, due to its height and isolating of the interferences of millimeter waves, in the plane of Chajnantor has been located the greater concentration of radio telescopes of the world, with: the Atacama Large Millimeter Array ALMA, the Great Radius Observatory of Atacama, Europe and North America.

It has 64 mobile antennas of 12 ms of diameter and the construction is in charge of the Austral European Observatory (BSO) of Europe, and Nacional Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) and Associated Universities Inc. (AUI) of the United States. There also is the Atacama Sub-Milimeter Telescope ASTE. Of National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, with an antenna of 10 ms of diameter, it operates in Pampas the Ball (4,850 ms). There also it is the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment, APEX. Of the Max Planck Institut für Radioastronomie (MPIfR), Onsala, of Sueda and ESO, with an antenna of 12 ms of diameter. Also is the Atacama Cosmology Telescope, ACT. Of universities of the U.S.A., and Canada, next to the Catholic University, with a telescope of 6 ms of diameter to the west of the hill Toco (17.060,37 feet).

Within the Atacama’s Salt flat and its surroundings, is located the town of Toconao at 8.120,08 feet of altitude. An oasis in the middle of the desert, in where they cultivate all type of fruits. In front of his square it is located the Church and Bell tower of San Lucas, declared National Monument.

On the road toward Toconao, which goes straight by the plain you’ll encounter the Licancabur volcano, a perfect cone up 19.409,45 feet above sea level, that meets with the salt pan in an impressive vertical unevenness of more than 11.811,02 feet, not seen in another place of the country To the bottom of the mountain range it emphasizes a splendid volcano succession.

In order to go to Atacama’s Salt flat from San Pedro de Atacama,  follow by the road to Toconao. In km 4  take a short deflection to the right that leads to ayllu of Solcor, to the Administration and Environmental Information center of Los Flamencos National Reserve.

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