Lomas

Lomas, also called fog oases and mist oases, are areas of fog-watered vegetation in the coastal desert of Peru and northern Chile. About 100 lomas near the Pacific Ocean are identified between 5°S and 30°S latitude, a north–south distance of about . Lomas range in size from a small vegetated area to more than and their flora includes many endemic species. Apart from river valleys and the lomas the coastal desert is almost without vegetation. Scholars have described individual lomas as "an island of vegetation in a virtual ocean of desert." thumb|250px|right|Lomas de Lachay is a protected area north of Lima. In a nearly rainless desert, the lomas owe their existence to the moist dense fog and mist which rolls in from the Pacific. The fog is called garúa in Peru and Camanchaca in Chile.

==Environment== thumb|left|250px|Moisture from the coastal fog condenses into water droplets that permit plants to flourish without rainfall. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, the coastal desert of Peru and the Atacama Desert of Chile feature a rare desert climate, that is abbreviated "BWn" on climate maps with the n denoting frequent fog. Temperatures are mild year round and precipitation is nearly non-existent, averaging to per year in most locations. Many years have no precipitation at all. The Atacama Desert of Chile is commonly known as the driest non-polar place in the world. Arica, Chile, in the middle portion of the coastal desert, went a record 173 months without measurable precipitation in the early 20th century.