File:Chile and Argentina (MODIS 2018-08-20).jpg

English: On August 16, 2018, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a stunning true-color image of a pristinely clear winter day across the Andes.

This slice of South America sits just north of Santiago, the largest city in Chile and is dominated by the rugged Andes Mountains. In the west a bank of low cloud (fog) covers the Pacific Ocean and creeps over much of the narrow coastal lowlands of Chile. The Andes rise quickly and steeply from the coastal plain. The political boundary between Chile in the west and Argentina in the east runs roughly down the center of the peaks of the Andes, which are capped in a coating of winter white.

Just to the east of the snow-capped peaks of the Andes are the Puna, or the high plains of the Andes. Lying between 13,000 – 19,000 feet (3,000 to 5,000 meters), the Puna is marked by basins lying between major thrust faults. The line where the color changes from arid tan to lightly green marks the change between the Puna and the Sierras Pampeanas. The semi-arid Sierras Pampeanas are lower in elevation and are home to ephemeral shallow salt lakes such as the Salinas Grandes and the Salinas Ambargasta. To the east of these two lakes is the Mar Chiquita Lake - a salt lake that, although salt-encrusted, maintains open water throughout the year.