Pampa del Tamarugal

…nitrate deposits found in the Tamarugal Plain and Carmen Salt Flat, where the once-bustling mining towns of María Elena, Pedro de Valdivia, and Baquedano are located. In north-central Chile, extending southward out of the desert region, the depression is interrupted by east–west mountain spurs that create fertile transverse valleys. The…

…found on the Pampa de Tamarugal, a broad, desert plateau about 3,000 ft (910 m) above sea level between the coastal range and the Andes. Since 1940, however, unfavourable world markets for nitrates have resulted in a decline in their production. The regional economy is now based largely on fishing…