Frontiers | The Atacama Desert in Northern Chile as an Analog Model of Mars
The Atacama Desert is by far the driest and oldest desert on Earth, showing a unique combination of environmental extremes (extreme dryness, the highest UV radiation levels on Earth and highly saline and oxidizing soils), explaining why the Atacama has been largely investigated as a Mars analog model for almost twenty years. Based on the source and the amount of water available for life and its analogy with Mars, two ecosystems are of interest in the Atacama; its Coastal Range and the much drier hyperarid core, which we here review in detail. Members of the three domains of life have been foun...
Source: frontiersin.org