Cordillera Domeyko
Encyclopedia
Mountain range
A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...
of the Andes
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
located in northern Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, west of Salar de Atacama
Salar de Atacama
Salar de Atacama is the largest salt flat in Chile. It is located south of San Pedro de Atacama, is surrounded by mountains and has no drainage outlets. To the east is enclosed by the main chain of the Andes, while to the west lies a secondary mountain range of the Andes called Cordillera de Domeyko...
. It runs north-south for approximately 600 km, parallel to the main chain. The mountain range marks the eastern border of the flat parts of Atacama Desert
Atacama Desert
The Atacama Desert is a plateau in South America, covering a strip of land on the Pacific coast, west of the Andes mountains. It is, according to NASA, National Geographic and many other publications, the driest desert in the world...
.
Cordillera Domeyko was named after Ignacy Domeyko
Ignacy Domeyko
Ignacy Domeyko or Domejko was a 19th-century geologist, mineralogist and educator who was born in Nesvizh, Imperial Russia , into a Polish-Lithuanian family...
and is the world's lowest humidity mountain range.
External links
- Virtual Tour on 360° of Cordillera de la Sal Chilexplora.com