Altiplano Erosion

Altiplano Sculpture

One of our excursions in the Atacama Desert took us to the high plains or the ‘Altiplano’.

On the hike to a viewpoint, we passed an area with these rock formations. Very little rain falls here and the erosion of these rocks is therefore primarily by wind.

It seems that the surface rock is harder than the layer below which is gradually removed by the wind which carries some dust and sand. Picasso said: ‘Art is the elimination of the unnecessary’. Very smart of Mother Nature to figure that out long before Picasso was born…

Clearly the main Ingredient here is ‘The Unusual’. The visual order is that of a diagonal line which starts at the visually most bizarre end of this roughly 4 meter tall hill.

Sony ILCE-7R Mll, ISO 64, f22, 1/50 sec, lens: Zeiss: FE 24-70mm F4 ZA OSS at 24 mm. Tripod.