In the heart of the Atacama Desert, the most arid and inhospitable desert on the planet, geological formations of extraordinary beauty and mystery are hidden: the salt caves. This unique landscape, sculpted over the centuries by erosion and the force of nature, reveals an underground world that fascinates and amazes with its singular composition and its thousand-year history.
The salt caves of the Atacama Desert are not simply a natural phenomenon, but represent a truly alien landscape. The salt, which covers much of the surface of the desert, is the result of millennia of evaporation of ancient prehistoric lakes that, over time, have transformed into crystals of pure salt. These underground formations are therefore the fruit of a geological process that has shaped the region for centuries.
In addition to their spectacular beauty, the salt caves of the Atacama Desert are also an object of great scientific interest.
“Reading the salt caves of Atacama” is a research project organized by the University of Bologna, the Italian association La Venta Esplorazioni Geografiche and realized thanks to the support of the National Geographic Society.
This project aims to explore the salt caves of the Atacama Desert in Chile, studying their morphologies through the use of laser scanners and 3D photogrammetry.
For this project, we carried out the three-dimensional survey of several caves explored during the expeditions organized within the framework of this research project.
At this link, you can find more information about this project:
