The Atacama Desert,
an arid landscape in the rugged foothills of northern Chile.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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The warm, dry air then descends down
the western flank of the mountain,
leaving no rain to fall on these parched lands.
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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.
&gt;&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.
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&gt;&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.
&gt;&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.
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&gt;&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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
&gt;&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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
&gt;&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)
&gt;&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.
&gt;&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.
&gt;&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.
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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.
&gt;&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.
&gt;&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.
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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.
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Further up the Chilean Andes,
an immense observatory near the top of the world
attempts to unlock the mysteries of an unexplored frontier.
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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.
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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.
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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.
&gt;&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.
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&gt;&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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Each antenna is a high-precision scientific instrument
weighing more than 200,000 pounds.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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&gt;&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.
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(Bird calling)
&gt;&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.
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A thick layer of salt
shines white under the high desert sun.
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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.
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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.
&gt;&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.
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&gt;&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.
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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.
&gt;&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.
&gt;&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.
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Today, there are more than 350,000 vicuñas
thriving and surviving
in one of the most unlikely places on Earth.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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&gt;&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.
&gt;&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.
&gt;&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.
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&gt;&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.
(♪♪♪)
&gt;&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.
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