The Atacama Desert,
an arid landscape in the rugged
foothills of northern Chile.
(♪♪♪)
From vast salt flats and lakes
to volcanoes and desert dunes,
it is one of South America's
last great wildlands...
A place where the Earth's
subterranean fires explode
more than 13,000 feet
above sea level...
A remote outpost for scientists
to explore the universe
and its origins...
A breeding ground for creatures
adapted to one of the world's
most hostile habitats.
And a rarely seen view
of one of the highest
and driest deserts on Earth.
(♪♪♪)
(♪♪♪)
The Atacama Desert...
A wild and barren environment
stretching along
600 miles
of northern
Chile's Pacific coast,
west of the towering
Andes Mountains.
This is the driest
non-polar region on Earth.
Parts of the coastal desert
receive average annual rainfall
of fewer than
four-hundredths of an inch,
making Atacama
50 times more arid
than California's Death Valley.
(♪♪♪)
It would take a century
for Atacama's rainfall
to fill a tea cup.
In the northern region
of the desert
are hostile, arid stretches
that have not seen
a single drop of rain
since record-keeping began
100 years ago.
In the far distance,
east of Atacama,
the Andes Mountains
block moist Amazon air
from reaching the desert.
Air forced upwards by the Andes
cools and condenses
in the high altitude
forming great vapor clouds
that dump rain
on the mountain slopes below.
(♪♪♪)
The warm, dry air
then descends down
the western flank
of the mountain,
leaving no rain to fall
on these parched lands.
(♪♪♪)
Temperatures in the desert
reach the high 70s
during the day
and can plunge to the
low 30's at night.
Atacama looks and feels
like another planet.
&amp;gt;&amp;gt; For me, it's
probably
the sensation of dryness.
There is no place dry like this.
The loneliness also
and how remote it is,
makes this place being special.
There is no place on Earth
like this.
(♪♪♪)
&amp;gt;&amp;gt; Adding
to this
other-worldly feel
is the majestic sweep
of Mars Valley.
When the Belgian priest
Gustavo Le Paige
arrived here in the 1950s,
he named this place
Valle de Marte
due to its similarity
to the surface of Mars.
But the name led to confusion.
&amp;gt;&amp;gt; The Mars
Valley
and the Death Valley
sound very similar in Spanish.
Valle de la Muerte
and Valle de Marte.
He put the name Mars Valley
and then all the people started
to change this name
like, Mars, Marte, Muerte.
So it becomes the Death Valley.
(♪♪♪)
&amp;gt;&amp;gt; Death Valley, Mars
Valley,
one thing is certain.
Just as on Mars,
the withered landscape here
is too dry for most life forms.
The arid climate and soil
depleted of organic material
make the Atacama
more similar to Mars
than any other place on Earth.
(♪♪♪)
NASA has tested
its Mars rovers here
and researchers have studied
the scarce life
that exists in the Atacama,
mainly micro-organisms
within the salt rock
to learn how
similar primitive life forms
might survive on Mars.
(♪♪♪)
At the most arid centre
of the Atacama,
there are no signs of life.
No grass.
No cacti.
No animals.
Just desert.
As far as the eye can see.
(Wind blowing)
(Bird calls)
Vegetation grows
only in those rare sites
where the water table
reaches the surface
or along rivers
irrigated by melted snow.
(♪♪♪)
The few animals
that survive here,
such as these vicuñas,
have adapted to extremes.
Desert heat, frigid nights
and thin mountain air.
Further along
Atacama's Salt Mountain Range,
Mars Valley gives way to even
stranger celestial sandscapes,
Valle de la Luna,
the Valley of the Moon.
What was
an ancient saltwater lake
more than 25 million years ago
is now a stunning
lunar-like panorama.
Ancient layers of minerals
formed by the evaporation
of the lake,
bitten by flooding,
extremes in temperature
and the savage wind
that whips in from the Andes.
&amp;gt;&amp;gt; The wind is
one of
the masters here
because it sculpts the place.
I mean, gave the shapes
in the last thousand years old.
So, without the wind, probably,
this is just one mass of rocks,
maybe with colors, but not
so attractive like with wind.
High above
the abrupt volcanic terrain,
a Sphinx-like sculpture
shaped from salt,
gypsum and clay
stares jaggedly over
the valley's Central Crater.
(♪♪♪)
Far below,
folds in the earth's crust
reveal the ancient
geological forces
that shaped
these battered plains.
Geologic evidence suggests
the drought in Atacama
has persisted for more
than 10 million years,
making it not only
the world's driest desert,
but one of the oldest.
(♪♪♪)
An immaculate,
windswept sand dune
rises more than 300 feet
above Moon Valley.
Everything in the Atacama
is extreme.
At this high altitude,
the oxygen content
in the air is low.
Locals chew coca leaves,
which contain alkaloids
believed to increase energy
and numb the headaches
associated with
altitude sickness.
(♪♪♪)
Searing sun heats the thin air
blasting the desert
with UV radiation
far more dangerous
than at sea level.
At the roughest edges of nature,
the only sound is the wind
and the crunch
of salt and stone.
&amp;gt;&amp;gt; One of the thing
that makes this place special,
I mean, the Moon Valley,
the Death Valley,
it's just the silence.
There's no places like this
in the world.
There's no places
with this kind of landscape.
But it's more the silence.
You feel like
you're surrounded by nothing
but just yourself.
(Wind blowing)
&amp;gt;&amp;gt; In Guatin Canyon,
the stillness of Moon Valley
is broken by the ripple
of the Vilama River.
The river has two sources,
the thermal spring of Puritama,
which brings minerals
in its warm waters
and the Purifica,
cold and clear snow-melt
that flows from the Andes.
The result is
a life-giving oasis
in the middle of a dust bowl.
&amp;gt;&amp;gt; Imagine, here in
the
desert, the river is life.
It's amazing to see
how a little bit of water
can change everything around.
&amp;gt;&amp;gt; Plant life
thrives here.
Foxtail,
the thick, hardy desert grass
that springs up to ten feet high
and the soaring Cardón cactus.
The Cardón grows at a rate
of less than half an inch
each year.
At heights
of more than 20 feet,
some of the Cardón
in Guatin Canyon
are more than 700 years old.
For hundreds of years,
local people have used the wood
from the cacti
for the doors and windows
of their houses.
A burnt-sienna sun
moves across the sandscape
as another parched day
in the Atacama draws to a close.
As dawn breaks
in the foothills of the Andes,
the Earth's underground infernos
boil over
creating a natural spectacle
that must be seen
to be believed.
More than 14,000 feet
above sea level,
nature unleashes one of its
most spectacular wonders,
the El Tatio Geysers.
(♪♪♪)
A plume of steam cast
from the Earth's scalding core
soars above
a wintry Andean sunrise.
El Tatio's 80 active geysers
are most dramatic at dawn
as cold mountain air
condenses the hot steam
erupting from below.
&amp;gt;&amp;gt; El Tatio is a magic
place.
With your eyes, you can see
to the infinity and more,
all the mountains around
and also feel the power
of the center of the Earth
there in the water.
Really, it's like a dream.
&amp;gt;&amp;gt; The geysers
explode from
vents in the Earth's surface
that run deep into the crust.
Cool groundwater filters
down the vents
and onto extremely hot rocks.
Super-heated to a temperature
beyond its boiling point,
the trapped water
converts to vapor
and seeks an escape.
As the pressure builds,
the steam explodes from this
underground pressure cooker
jetting more than 20 feet
into the frigid mountain air.
Expansive enough to fill
six European soccer fields,
El Tatio, which means
"grandfather who cries"
in the local Kunza language,
is the largest geothermal field
in the southern hemisphere
and the third-largest
in the world.
(♪♪♪)
More than 13,000 feet
up the Chilean Andes,
El Tatio is also
one of the highest.
At such high altitude,
water boils at just 187°F,
much cooler than the 212°
required at sea level.
The thinner air
and lower atmospheric pressure
allows water molecules
to escape as vapor
at lower temperatures.
A watery crater
fed by hot underground rivers
boils in the first shards
of morning light.
El Tatio is truly a marvel
of the Andes,
but it is not
without its dangers.
Visitors who venture
too close to the craters,
risk breaking through
the fragile ground
and scalding themselves
in the boiling pools.
In the last 20 years,
at least two people have died
here after falling into a crater
and suffering severe burns.
Geysers are rare phenomena
requiring specific
geological conditions.
Worldwide,
there are currently
only about 1,000 active geysers.
The steaming ground,
fiery craters
and towering columns of vapor
at El Tatio
indicate hot water
passing through sediment below
and recent volcanic activity.
El Tatio is ringed
with active volcanoes
that could erupt at any time.
(♪♪♪)
Further up the Chilean Andes,
an immense observatory
near the top of the world
attempts to unlock the mysteries
of an unexplored frontier.
(♪♪♪)
Here in
the cold, thin mountain air,
this vast and complex
astronomical operation
is studying the universe
and its origins.
The Atacama
Large Millimeter Array, ALMA.
In Spanish, alma means soul.
On the wind-lashed
Chajnantor Plateau,
a huddle of antennas,
each weighing more than
100 tons,
whir overhead.
(Antenna whirring)
"Chajnantor" means
"place of flight" in Kunza,
the language
of the Atacameño people.
At more than 16,000 feet
above sea level,
the same altitude
as Mount Everest base camp,
this is the ideal location
for scientists
to explore the heavens.
ALMA is a partnership
between Europe, North America
and East Asia.
At any given time,
there are 150 people
from around the world
working in shifts and sleeping
in the on-site living quarters.
Nestled among
the high peaks of the Andes,
ALMA is above more than 40%
of the Earth's atmosphere.
It is already
nearly halfway to space.
Water vapor in the atmosphere
absorbs signals from space
preventing astronomers
from examining
far regions of the universe.
ALMA's high and dry location
in the parched Atacama Desert
puts it above 95%
of the Earth's water vapor,
making it possible for
scientists to see more clearly
into the dark reaches
of the cosmos.
Three miles high,
close to the heavens
and the Earth's equator,
ALMA can see most of the light
that rains down from the sky.
(♪♪♪)
The wide, level plateau
at Chajnantor
provides the space
for 66 giant antennas
to spread out at a distance
of more than 10 miles
allowing the antennas to capture
a view of the universe
invisible
to traditional telescopes.
(♪♪♪)
ALMA observes the universe
by collecting radio waves,
light that is invisible
to optical telescopes
and the human eye.
These radio waves,
which reach ALMA
from the depths of space,
carry new secrets
about stars and galaxies
created in the cosmic Dark Ages
billions of years ago.
&amp;gt;&amp;gt; We are trying to
understand
exactly how the universe
unfolded after the Big Bang,
and trying to understand
what it is about the universe
that enabled things like us
to exist today.
And so by all this peering back
deep into space,
we're basically peering back
into time.
And looking back and seeing
things like galaxies formed
and then how stars formed
and then how planets formed.
So all of this origins here
allow us to understand
where we come from
and also where we may be going.
(♪♪♪)
&amp;gt;&amp;gt; ALMA's 66
antennas
work together as one,
moving in unison
and combining signals
to create
a single giant telescope,
able to scan the cosmos
for the faintest traces
of light,
providing a view of the universe
as we've never seen it before.
(♪♪♪)
It is the world's largest
eye on the sky
peering through webs
of cosmic dust and gas
to observe the formation
of distant stars and galaxies
billions of light years away.
(♪♪♪)
Just one of ALMA's
40-foot antennas
is larger than the biggest
visible light telescope
on Earth.
By combining the signals
from 66 antennas
spread over 10 miles,
ALMA can harness
the resolution power
of a single telescope
with a 10-mile diameter.
To read the billions of
light signals from 66 antennas
would require
150,000 personal computers.
Instead, ALMA is able to combine
the views from each antenna
into a single concentrated image
using a mega-computer
able to perform 17 quadrillion
operations per second.
(♪♪♪)
Each antenna
planted on Chajnantor
is a marvel of engineering.
The surface panels
of each antenna
must be almost perfectly smooth,
accurate to less than
the thickness
of a single sheet of paper.
Antennas are repositioned to
capture the best possible view
of an object in space.
When spread apart,
antennas can
see the finest details.
When close together,
they take in
the object's broad features.
(♪♪♪)
But lifting an antenna,
transporting it
20 miles up a mountain,
then placing it within
hundredth of an inch
of its required position
is in itself
a feat of engineering.
(♪♪♪)
Each antenna is a high-precision
scientific instrument
weighing more than
200,000 pounds.
(♪♪♪)
To move the antennas
to one of the world's
most remote locations
requires a sophisticated vehicle
custom-built
for such a delicate job.
ALMA has two mega-sized
antenna transporters,
each the size of a tennis court.
(Engine revving)
Highly skilled operators
are able to control
the vehicle remotely
to guide it
through critical maneuvers.
(♪♪♪)
The vehicles are equipped
with 28 wheels fitted in pairs
and able to turn independently
in any direction
providing the transporter
with ultra-maneuverability.
Two 700-horsepower engines
reach a top speed
of 7 miles per hour
with an antenna in place.
(♪♪♪)
Iron grips keep the antennas
safe from earthquakes.
Powerful stabilizers
and delicate cooling systems
allow the fragile antennas
to operate while traveling
in one of the world's
most severe environments.
It takes two operators
more than six hours
to make the 6,500-foot climb
from the Operations
Support Facility
up a winding custom-made road
to the high-altitude plateau.
(Antenna whirring)
With the antennas in place,
astronomers perched high
in the Chilean desert
are able to explore
the dark, cold
and far-reaching secrets
of the cosmos.
(♪♪♪)
&amp;gt;&amp;gt; It's an
incredible opportunity
to be at basically
the forefront of science
and see these things
come together.
To try to understand
the origins of galaxies
and stars and planets.
And maybe even determine
something
about the origin of life.
It gives us
a great sense of perspective
of our existences
on this planet.
Through astronomy, we really get
a sense of the scope
and the grandeur
of the universe.
(♪♪♪)
(♪♪♪)
(Bird calling)
&amp;gt;&amp;gt; In the remote highlands
of the Andes, not far from ALMA,
a strange and barren landscape
holds the secret
to an ancient geological past.
This is the Altiplano
or high plains,
a wide, high-altitude
desert plateau
in the central Andes mountains.
Here, in the foothills
of a chain of volcanoes
near the border of Argentina
lies one of the Altiplano's
most striking natural wonders,
the Aguas Calientes salt flat.
(♪♪♪)
A thick layer of salt
shines white
under the high desert sun.
(♪♪♪)
This was once a mighty salt lake
that evaporated
in the arid Atacama climate.
Over thousands of years,
salt and other minerals
such as potassium, sulfur
and arsenic
accumulated on the surface
forming an immense sheet
of hexagonal tiles
shaped by the salt's
crystalline properties.
(♪♪♪)
At the edge of Aguas Calientes,
an opening in the earth's crust
gives way
to a shimmering silver pool,
Tuyajto Lagoon,
part salt flat and part lagoon.
Tuyajto is fed by ground water
passing through sediment
flowing from
the sleeping volcanoes
that ring the lagoon.
The water is laced
with enough caustic minerals,
salt, sulfur and arsenic,
to corrode a car.
In spite of its toxicity,
these waters brim with life.
Algae, micro-organisms
and the tiny brine shrimp
that make this
a favorite feeding ground
of the flamingo.
Three of the world's six species
flock here:
James's, Andean
and Chilean flamingos.
Flamingos are born
with grey feathers.
The pink coloring
comes from an organic pigment
found in
their primary food source,
brine shrimp.
Without these shrimp,
the flamingo would eventually
lose its rosy hue.
Flamingos are filter eaters
sifting shrimp and algae
from the salt water
through small bristles
in their mouths.
Their tongues pump up and down
six times per second
pushing water
through their beaks
allowing them
to filter their food.
&amp;gt;&amp;gt; They separate the
salty water from the food,
so that way
they are eating 95% of the day.
Like, la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-
la-la-la-- making that noise.
And then they're dropping
the water
and at the same time, they are
eating the shrimps and algaes
and other invertebrates.
(♪♪♪)
&amp;gt;&amp;gt; Specialized
glands
next to their beaks
allow them to drink salt water.
The salt is then passed
as excrement,
meaning flamingos
don't rely on fresh water
in a parched land
that offers very little.
Also perfectly suited
to the high altitudes
and torrid dryness
that grips the Atacama Desert
is the vicuña,
the world's smallest camel,
a wild ancestor of the alpaca.
Vicuñas can go several days
without water
and are able to consume
salt water when needed.
(♪♪♪)
The vicuña's thick, soft coat
traps heat from the sun
protecting it from cold
night time temperatures
and the harsh winds
that rip through the landscape.
A young female feeds
on the tough, low grasses
that spring up
on the Andean plains.
The vicuña's lower teeth
grow constantly,
like that of a rodent,
to allow them to feed
on hardened clumps of grass.
But in one of the
world's harshest environments,
survival is a struggle.
&amp;gt;&amp;gt; Vicuñas, when they
get old,
unfortunately,
they lose their lower teeth.
They eat this plant called
hard grass or salty grass.
They are not able
to eat it anymore,
so they starve to death.
&amp;gt;&amp;gt; By the
middle
of the last century,
vicuñas faced
an entirely different threat.
Highly valued
for their fur,
they were hunted
to near extinction.
At one point in the 1970s,
just 6,000 remained.
Both Chile and Peru established
protected national parks
and put a halt
to the trade in vicuña wool.
(♪♪♪)
Today, there are more than
350,000 vicuñas
thriving and surviving
in one of the most
unlikely places on Earth.
(♪♪♪)
The Atacama is a brutal
and barren landscape,
home to
the world's driest desert...
and to some of the
highest volcanoes in the Andes.
(♪♪♪)
Here,
on the southernmost border,
between Chile and Bolivia,
a solemn giant
pierces the clouds,
Licancabur Volcano.
"Licancabur" means
"mountain of the people"
in the local Atacameño language.
At more than 19,000 feet
it is one of the
tallest volcanoes in the Andes.
Hidden inside its
1,300-foot wide crater
is the world's
highest volcanic lagoon,
Licancabur Lake.
(♪♪♪)
Licancabur is a dormant volcano,
meaning it could erupt
at any time with explosive fury.
More than 15% of the world's
active and dormant volcanoes
are in Chile,
an almost-continuous chain
that runs more than
2,500 miles.
(♪♪♪)
Earthquakes are common.
Eruptions, a constant danger.
The thin air and sheer altitude
of Licancabur
makes it a challenge
for hikers and climbers.
Winding through the Atacama
are hundreds of miles
of hiking trails
from easy three-hour strolls
to ambitious three-day treks
up the Andes.
(♪♪♪)
&amp;gt;&amp;gt; It's very important
to came
here also with a person
that know very well the place.
We don't recommend to do this
by yourself.
because it's a very tricky
place in terms of--
Well, there is different
ravines into the main one
that can make sometimes
take a wrong turn.
Time to time,
we have to go outside
to looking for somebody lost,
but always getting good results.
&amp;gt;&amp;gt; From the
barren, alien
landscape of Moon Valley
to the spectacular, exploding
geysers of El Tatio,
the Atacama Desert is a natural
and geological treasure.
and one of the world's
last great wildlands.
&amp;gt;&amp;gt; The Atacama desert is
a place
that you can find
a lot of things.
Salt flats, lagoons...
High-climbing volcanoes,
mountain ranges.
It's just a place
that you can find yourself.
(♪♪♪)
&amp;gt;&amp;gt; It's completely
contemplative
for meditation,
for manly meditation
to contemplate colors,
the sun settings,
to make photos if you like.
The landscapes are quite
like paintings, literally.
So it's a place
to relax yourself
and maybe to be in silence.
(♪♪♪)
&amp;gt;&amp;gt; Here is a place
where you can be introspective.
You can connect with everything
because you can hear
the silence really
to feel only like the whisk
of the air in your ears.
You can focus here
to feel grateful for all around
and to be here
in the middle of nowhere
and to see all this magic.
(♪♪♪)
