Chile

Climographs

Soils

Calama Area - Inceptisols, low amount of vegetation

Source: Encyclopedia Britannica

Santiago Region- Alfisols

Source: Encyclopedia Britannica

Cochrane Region- Entisols

Source: University of Idaho

Region Description

The country of Chile stretches along the West Coast of South America for over 2,500 miles. Because of its wide range in latitude, the country is host to a plethora of different biomes, from cold highland and mountainous regions to the driest desert on the planet. To outline this, I selected three regions in the country that I think highlight the diversity the country contains. The first region is in the Northern part of Chile, called Calama. It is located on the edge of the Atacama Desert. While the temperatures may not be scorching like those of other deserts such as the Sahara, the Atacama is one of the driest places on Earth, with only around two inches of precipitation a year.

The next region is Santiago, located towards the center of the country. The climate here is very mild year round, with considerably more rainfall than Calama to the North. Due to the proximity of the region to the coast, temperatures fluctuate very little year round when compared to a region on the interior of the continent. This region is sandwiched in between the Andes Mountains and the coastline. It is also known as the agricultural center of the country due to the mild climate.

The third region is vastly different than the previous two. Cochrane is located towards the southern tip of the continent, and is much more mountainous than the other regions, which were located in valleys. While still featuring mild summertime climates due to the maritime climate, during the winter the average temperature can dip down in the mid to low thirties. It also rains or snows year round in this region, with around 25 inches of precipitation annually.

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Shasta National Forest: Biotic Communities and Disturbance Regime

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The Canadian Shield

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GEOG 3318 Project: Biogeographic Pattern

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