Tapia J, González R, Townley B, Oliveros V, Álvarez F, Aguilar G, Menzies A, Calderón M
Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile.
Departamento de Ciencias Geológicas, Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Católica del Norte, Antofagasta, Chile.
Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek. 2018 Aug;111(8):1273-1291. doi: 10.1007/s10482-018-1024-x. Epub 2018 Feb 14.
The Atacama Desert, the driest of its kind on Earth, hosts a number of unique geological and geochemical features that make it unlike any other environment on the planet. Considering its location on the western border of South America, between 17 and 28 °S, its climate has been characterized as arid to hyperarid for at least the past 10 million years. Notably dry climatic conditions of the Atacama Desert have been related to uplift of the Andes and are believed to have played an important role in the development of the most distinctive features of this desert, including: (i) nitrates and iodine deposits in the Central Depression, (ii) secondary enrichment in porphyry copper deposits in the Precordillera, (iii) Li enrichment in salt flats of the Altiplano, and (iv) life in extreme habitats. The geology and physiography of the Atacama Desert have been largely shaped by the convergent margin present since the Mesozoic era. The geochemistry of surface materials is related to rock geochemistry (Co, Cr, Fe, Mn, V, and Zn), salt flats, and evaporite compositions in endorheic basins (As, B, and Li), in addition to anthropogenic activities (Cu, Mo, and Pb). The composition of surface water is highly variable, nonetheless in general it presents a circumneutral pH with higher conductivity and total dissolved solids in brines. Major water constituents, with the exception of HCO, are generally related to the increase of salinity, and despite the fact that trace elements are not well-documented, surface waters of the Atacama Desert are enriched in As, B, and Li when compared to the average respective concentrations in rivers worldwide.
阿塔卡马沙漠是地球上同类沙漠中最干燥的，拥有许多独特的地质和地球化学特征，使其与地球上的任何其他环境都不同。考虑到它位于南美洲西部边界，南纬17度至28度之间，至少在过去1000万年里，其气候一直被描述为干旱至极干旱。阿塔卡马沙漠显著的干旱气候条件与安第斯山脉的隆起有关，并且被认为在该沙漠最独特特征的形成中发挥了重要作用，这些特征包括：（i）中央凹陷区的硝酸盐和碘矿床；（ii）前科迪勒拉山脉斑岩铜矿床的次生富集；（iii）阿尔蒂普拉诺盐沼中的锂富集；以及（iv）极端栖息地中的生命。阿塔卡马沙漠的地质和地貌在很大程度上是由中生代以来存在的汇聚边缘塑造的。地表物质的地球化学与岩石地球化学（钴、铬、铁、锰、钒和锌）、盐沼以及内流盆地的蒸发岩成分（砷、硼和锂）有关，此外还与人为活动（铜、钼和铅）有关。地表水的成分变化很大，尽管如此，一般来说，其pH值呈中性，盐水的电导率和总溶解固体含量较高。除了碳酸氢根外，主要的水成分通常与盐度的增加有关，尽管微量元素的记录并不完善，但与全球河流中各自的平均浓度相比，阿塔卡马沙漠的地表水富含砷、硼和锂。
