Paposo or Caleta Paposo is a hamlet in the southern part of Antofagasta Province, Chile. It is located on a narrow coastal plain bordering the Pacific Ocean. The census of 2002 counted 259 inhabitants,Ciudades, pueblos, aldeas y caserios" (2005), Santiago, Chile: Ediciones UNE, p. 141 who predominantly relied on fishing and mining for a living."La Flora de Quebrada de Paposo", http://www.chileflora.com/Florachilena/FloraSpanish/SHFloraPaposo.htm, accessed 7 Aug 2017 Paposo has a desert climate, but "fog oases" exist on mountain slopes near the sea. In a region almost devoid of vegetation, these oases, also called lomas, support a variety of flora found from about to inland.
Geography and climate Paposo is located adjacent to a cove on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in the Atacama Desert, the driest non-polar desert in the world. Vegetation is nearly absent in most of the Atacama. The foothills of the Andes rise steeply from the sea, reaching an elevation of less than from the sea.Google Earth
Paposo and the Atacama have the BWn (desert) climate in the Köppen Classification, characterized by mild temperatures, unusual in desert climates, and much fog rolling in from the nearby ocean."World Rainfall Patterns: Cool, Foggy Deserts," pp. 34, 37, accessed 23 Sep 2019 Average temperatures in Paposo range from in July to in January, the warmest month."Paposo, Antofagasta (Chile), https://www.yr.no/place/Chile/Antofagasta/Paposo/statistics.html, accessed 8 Aug 2017 Annual precipitation is . July has the most precipitation averaging ."Paposo", https://en.climate-data.org/location/148947/, accessed 8 Aug 2017
The climatic feature which permits the growth of vegetation on the slopes of the mountains rising above Paposo is the Garua or Camanchaca -- cloud banks caused by the cold waters of the ocean. Inland, on mountain sides up to an elevation of , the cloud banks form a dense fog which does not produce rain. The moisture that makes up the clouds measures between 1 and 40 microns across, producing mist and drizzle but too fine to form rain droplets.
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