How the Earth Was Made Season 1 Driest Place on Earth 2009
The Atacama desert is considered the driest place on Earth. Since human records of the area began, some places have never received rain. But the records don't stop there--the Atacama is also the oldest desert in the world, and recently it has been dated to an amazing 150 million years old. Other research shows that the surface of this desert is also incredibly ancient, with boulders lying there that have not moved for over 23 million years--more than 50 times longer than it's taken for our human species to evolve. The soil is so dry, it has been used as a test bed for the Mars rovers. And though the desert was once thought to be completely lifeless, strange bacteria discovered there have given scientists new hope that they might find life on the red planet. Atacama is also home to the largest copper mine in the world. Inspect the riddle of the Atacama and uncover how this extraordinarily dry landscape was created.
- Released: 2009-03-17
- Runtime: 45 minutes
- Genre: Documentary
- Stars: Corey Johnson
- Director:
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1. San Andreas Fault 2009-02-10
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2. The Deepest Place on Earth 2009-02-17
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3. Krakatoa 2009-02-24
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4. Loch Ness 2009-03-03
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5. New York 2009-03-10
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6. Driest Place on Earth 2009-03-17
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7. Great Lakes 2009-03-24
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8. Yellowstone 2009-03-31
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9. Tsunami 2009-04-07
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10. Asteroids 2009-04-21
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11. Iceland 2009-04-28
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12. Hawaii 2009-05-05
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13. The Alps 2009-05-12
