Dispatches from the Other Side of the World

Professor Young on sabbatical in Chile's Atacama Desert
Mar 18, 2018
  • Flamingoes on a lake in the Atacama Desert
  • A high mountain lake in the Atacama Desert
  • Desolate landscape of the Atacama Desert
  • The vicuña is a relative of the llama, and is now believed to be the wild ances…
  • A sign indicates that you are crossing the Tropic of Capricorn

As part of his semester-long sabbatical, geography professor Stephen Young has been traveling around the world. Recently he was in the Atacama Desert in Chile, South America. The Atacama Desert, which straddles the Tropic of Capricorn, is the driest desert in the world, receiving on average 0.6 inches of precipitation a year (compare that to the average of 44 inches per year in Massachusetts). Professor Young sent along the pictures above.

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Campus Community, Academics, College of Arts and Sciences, Geography
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