page_title: Arid Diagonal
hierarchical_section_title: Arid Diagonal
context_page_description: The Arid Diagonal is a contiguous zone of arid and semi-arid climate that traverses South America from coastal Peru in the Northwest to Argentine Patagonia in Southeast including large swathes of Bolivia and Chile. The Arid Diagonal encompasses a number of deserts, for example: Sechura, Atacama, Monte and the Patagonian Desert.
  The Arid Diagonal acts to isolate the temperate and subtropical forests of Chile and southern Argentina from other forests of South America. Together with the Quaternary glaciations in the Southern Andes, the diagonal has controlled the distribution of vegetation throughout Chile and Argentina.
context_section_description: The Arid Diagonal (Spanish: diagonal árida/arreica) is a contiguous zone of arid and semi-arid climate that traverses South America from coastal Peru in the Northwest to Argentine Patagonia in Southeast including large swathes of Bolivia and Chile. The Arid Diagonal encompasses a number of deserts, for example: Sechura, Atacama, Monte and the Patagonian Desert. 
  The Arid Diagonal acts to isolate the temperate and subtropical forests of Chile and southern Argentina from other forests of South America. Together with the Quaternary glaciations in the Southern Andes, the diagonal has controlled the distribution of vegetation throughout Chile and Argentina.
caption: Map showing Köppens climate classification for South America. The arid diagonal can be seen in the form of the almost contiguous zone of BWh and BWk climate running from Ecuador to Southern Patagonia.