Portal:Andes
Portal maintenance status: (November 2018)
|
The Andes Portal
The Andes (/ˈændiːz/ AN-deez), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (Spanish: Cordillera de los Andes; Quechua: Anti) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is 8,900 km (5,530 mi) long and 200 to 700 km (124 to 435 mi) wide (widest between 18°S and 20°S latitude) and has an average height of about 4,000 m (13,123 ft). The Andes extend from north to south through seven South American countries: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina.
Along their length, the Andes are split into several ranges, separated by intermediate depressions. The Andes are the location of several high plateaus—some of which host major cities such as Quito, Bogotá, Cali, Arequipa, Medellín, Bucaramanga, Sucre, Mérida, El Alto and La Paz. The Altiplano Plateau is the world's second-highest after the Tibetan Plateau. These ranges are in turn grouped into three major divisions based on climate: the Tropical Andes, the Dry Andes, and the Wet Andes.
The Andes Mountains are the highest mountain range outside Asia. The highest mountain outside Asia, Argentina's Aconcagua, rises to an elevation of about 6,961 m (22,838 ft) above sea level. The peak of Chimborazo in the Ecuadorian Andes is farther from the Earth's center than any other location on the Earth's surface, due to the equatorial bulge resulting from the Earth's rotation. The world's highest volcanoes are in the Andes, including Ojos del Salado on the Chile-Argentina border, which rises to 6,893 m (22,615 ft). (Full article...)
Selected articles
-
Image 1
Pumasillo (possibly from Quechua puma cougar, puma, sillu claw, "puma claw") is a mountain in the Vilcabamba mountain range in the Andes of Peru, about 5,991 m (19,656 ft) high'. Pumasillo or Sacsarayoc also refers to the whole massif. It includes the peaks Pumasillo, Sacsarayoc and Lasunayoc. It is located in the Cusco Region, La Convención Province. Its slopes are within the administrative boundaries of the Peruvian city of Santa Teresa. ('Full article...) -
Image 2The Pico Pan de Azúcar, at 4680 meters above sea level, is the ninth highest mountain of Venezuela, and the third highest of the Sierra de la Culata range in the Mérida State. Its name, which translates as "Bread of Sugar", is due to the sandy slopes of the mountain, which resembles "Pan dulce", a kind of bread sprinkled with sugar eaten in the country. The summit offers a scenic view, including Lake Maracaibo, Sierra Nevada de Mérida and the surrounding mountains of the Sierra de la Culata. (Full article...)
-
Image 3
Puracé is an andesitic stratovolcano located in the Puracé National Natural Park in the Cauca Department, Colombia. It is part of the North Volcanic Zone of the Andean Volcanic Belt. The volcano is located at the intersection of the Coconucos and Morras Faults.
It is one of the most active volcanoes in Colombia. Large explosive eruptions occurred in 1849, 1869, 1885, 1949, 1950, 1956, and 1957. There were about a dozen eruptions in the 20th century, the most recent being in 1977. On this occasion, volcanic ash was deposited 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) away. Fumaroles were seen near the summit in 1990, and hot springs emerged from some of the lower slopes. (Full article...) -
Image 4
Coropuna is a dormant compound volcano located in the Andes mountains of southeast-central Peru. The upper reaches of Coropuna consist of several perennially snowbound conical summits, lending it the name Nevado Coropuna in Spanish. The complex extends over an area of 240 square kilometres (93 sq mi) and its highest summit reaches an altitude of 6,377 metres (20,922 ft) above sea level. This makes the Coropuna complex the third-highest of Peru. Its thick ice cap is the most extensive in Earth's tropical zone, with several outlet glaciers stretching out to lower altitudes. Below an elevation of 5,000 metres (16,000 ft), there are various vegetation belts which include trees, peat bogs, grasses and also agricultural areas and pastures.
The Coropuna complex consists of several stratovolcanoes. These are composed chiefly of ignimbrites and lava flows on a basement formed by Middle Miocene ignimbrites and lava flows. The Coropuna complex has been active for at least five million years, with the bulk of the current cone having been formed during the Quaternary. Coropuna has had two or three Holocene eruptions 2,100 ± 200 and either 1,100 ± 100 or 700 ± 200 years ago which generated lava flows, plus an additional eruption which may have taken place some 6,000 years ago. Current activity occurs exclusively in the form of hot springs. (Full article...) -
Image 5
Huascarán (Spanish pronunciation: [waskaˈɾan]) (Quechua: Waskaran), Nevado Huascarán or Mataraju is a mountain located in Yungay Province, Department of Ancash, Peru. It is situated in the Cordillera Blanca range of the western Andes. The southern summit of Huascarán (Huascarán Sur), which reaches 6,768 metres (22,205 ft), is the highest point in Peru, the northern Andes (north of Lake Titicaca), and in all of the earth's Tropics. Huascarán is the 4th highest mountain in South America after Aconcagua, Ojos del Salado, and Monte Pissis. Huascarán is ranked 25th by topographic isolation. (Full article...) -
Image 6
The Cordillera Paine is a mountain group in Torres del Paine National Park in Chilean Patagonia. The cordillera is located 280 km (170 mi) north of Punta Arenas, and about 1,960 km (1,220 mi) south of the Chilean capital Santiago. It belongs to the Commune of Torres del Paine in Última Esperanza Province of Magallanes and Antártica Chilena Region. No accurate surveys have been published, and published elevations have been claimed to be seriously inflated, so most of the elevations given on this page are approximate. Paine means "blue" in the native Tehuelche (Aonikenk) language and is pronounced PIE-nay. (Full article...) -
Image 7
Los Nevados National Natural Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional Natural Los Nevados) is a national park located in the Cordillera Central of the Colombian Andes. The park surrounds the northern volcanic complex formed by Nevado del Ruiz, Nevado del Tolima, Nevado de Santa Isabel, the paramillos of Cisne, Santa Rosa and Quindío and the Cerro Bravo and Cerro Machín.
The park is located in the departments of Caldas, Quindío, Risaralda, Tolima and spans between the municipalities Manizales, Villamaría, Santa Rosa de Cabal, Pereira, Salento, Villahermosa, Anzoátegui, Santa Isabel, Murillo, Ibagué and Casabianca. (Full article...) -
Image 8
Antisana is a stratovolcano of the northern Andes, in Ecuador. It is the fourth highest volcano in Ecuador, at 5,753 metres (18,875 ft), and is located 50 kilometres (31 mi) SE of the capital city of Quito.
Antisana presents one of the most challenging technical climbs in the Ecuadorian Andes. Next to the Pichincha, Cotopaxi, Tungurahua and Chimborazo, the Antisana belongs to the five volcanic mountains that the Prussian-born explorer Alexander von Humboldt tried to climb in 1802 during his American journey. (Full article...) -
Image 9
The Andean flicker (Colaptes rupicola) is a species of bird in subfamily Picinae of the woodpecker family Picidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru. (Full article...) -
Image 10
Huandoy (probably from Quechua wantuy, to transfer, to transpose, to carry, to carry a heavy load) or Tullparaju (possibly from Quechua tullpa rustic cooking-fire, stove, rahu snow, ice, mountain with snow,) is a mountain located inside Huascarán National Park in Ancash, Peru. It is the second-tallest peak of the Cordillera Blanca section of the Andes, after Huascarán. These two peaks are rather nearby, separated only by the Llanganuco glacial valley (which contains the Llanganuco Lakes) at 3,846 m asl.
It is a snow-capped mountain with four peaks arranged in the form of a fireplace, the tallest of which is 6,395 m. The four peaks are each over 6,000 m, and are:- Huandoy (6,395 m)
- Huandoy-West (6,356 m)
- Huandoy-South (6,160 m)
- Huandoy-East (6,000 m)
-
Image 11
The Titicaca orestias, Lake Titicaca orestias, or Lake Titicaca flat-headed fish (Orestias cuvieri), also known by its native name amanto, is a likely extinct freshwater killifish from Lake Titicaca in South America. It belongs in the pupfish genus Orestias, endemic to lakes, rivers and streams in the Andean highlands. With a total length of up to 27 cm (10.6 in), it was the largest member in that genus. In the hope that an undiscovered population remains, it is listed as Data Deficient by the IUCN. Despite its common name, it is not the only Orestias from Lake Titicaca.
Its mouth was nearly turned upwards, thereby giving the flat head a concave shape. The head took up nearly a third of the whole body length. The upperside was greenish-yellow to umber. The lower jaw was black. Its scales were oddly light coloured at their centre. The scales of the young were blotched. (Full article...) -
Image 12
The Junin grebe (Podiceps taczanowskii), also known as Junin flightless grebe or puna grebe, is a species of grebe endemic to Lake Junin in the Andean highlands of Junin in west-central Peru. An endangered species, the current population is estimated at about 300–400 individuals, including 140–320 adults. (Full article...) -
Image 13
Ritacuba Blanco is the highest peak of Cordillera Oriental, in the Andes Mountains of Colombia. It's also named Ritak'uwa, an ancient name from the U'wa indigenous people that live in the lowlands of the National Park Sierra Nevada del Cocuy y Güicán, where the Ritacuba Blanco is located.
The summit is accessible from the west via the town of El Cocuy, the village of Güicán, and the hamlet of Las Cabañas. The hike is fairly easy, but the weather is not reliable, and a glacier must be crossed.
Because of global warming, its glacier is melting at very high rates, backing down 25 linear mts per year; the same is happening at amazing speeds to all other snow-covered tropical mountains in Colombia. In 1950, Ritacuba Blanco's glacier extended down to 4,100 metres (13,500 ft) above sea level; in January 2007 its lowest point was at 4,500 metres (14,800 ft) above sea level. If this melting rate continues, the glacier is expected to disappear before 2055. (Full article...) -
Image 14
Cumbal is a stratovolcano of the Caribe Terrane, located at the Nudo de los Pastos in Nariño, Colombia. It is the southernmost historically active volcano of Colombia and is together with Chiles and Azufral one of the few volcanoes of the Western Ranges. The volcano is dominated by andesites. (Full article...) -
Image 15
Cordón del Azufre is an inactive complex volcano located in the Central Andes, at the border of Argentina and Chile. It consists of three stages of volcanic cones and associated lava flows, and its activity is a consequence of the subduction of the Nazca Plate underneath the South American Plate. North of it are the dormant volcano Lastarria and the actively uplifting Lazufre region. (Full article...) -
Image 16
Incahuasi (Spanish pronunciation: [iŋkaˈwasi]; possibly from Quechua: inka Inca, wasi house) is a volcanic mountain in the Andes of South America. It lies on the border of the Catamarca Province of Argentina and the Atacama Region of Chile. Incahuasi has a summit elevation of 6,621 metres (21,722 ft) above sea level.
The volcano consists of a 3.5-kilometre-wide (2.2 mi) caldera and two stratovolcanoes. Four pyroclastic cones located 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) to the northeast have produced basalt-andesite lava flows that cover an area of 10 square kilometres (4 sq mi). (Full article...) -
Image 17
Pico Bolívar is the highest mountain in Venezuela, at 4,978 metres (16,332 ft). Located in Mérida State. It can be reached only by walking; the Mérida cable car, which was the highest and longest cable car in the world when it was built, only reaches Pico Espejo. From there it is possible to climb to Pico Bolívar. The peak is named after the Venezuelan independence hero Simón Bolívar.
The Pico Bolívar is located on the mountain previously called La Columna, next to El León (4,743 m) and El Toro (4,695 m). The new name was suggested by Tulio Febres Cordero in 1925. It was officially renamed on December 30, 1934. (Full article...) -
Image 18Michincha is a stratovolcano on the border of Bolivia and Chile. It is part of an east–west trending ridge of stratovolcanoes. To its east lies Olca. The only historical activity from the complex was a flank eruption from 1865 to 1867. (Full article...)
-
Image 19
Pico La Concha is a mountain in the Andes of Venezuela. It has a height of 4,922 metres. (Full article...) -
Image 20
Maipo is a stratovolcano in the Andes, lying on the border between Argentina and Chile. It is located 90 km (56 mi) south of Tupungato and about 100 km (62 mi) southeast of Santiago. It has a symmetrical, conical volcanic shape, and is among the southernmost 5,000 metre peaks in the Andes.
Maipo is located within the Diamante caldera, a feature measuring 15 km by 20 km that is about half a million years old. It rises about 1,900 m (6,230 ft) above the floor of the caldera. Immediately to the east of the peak, on the eastern side of the caldera floor, is Laguna del Diamante, a lake that formed when lava flows blocked drainage channels from the caldera in 1826. The Diamante Caldera erupted 450 cubic kilometers (108 cu mi) of tephra, 450 ka. (Full article...) -
Image 21
The llama (/ˈlɑːmə/; Spanish pronunciation: [ˈʎama] or [ˈʝama]) (Lama glama) is a domesticated South American camelid, widely used as a meat and pack animal by Andean cultures since the pre-Columbian era.
Llamas are social animals and live with others as a herd. Their wool is soft and contains only a small amount of lanolin. Llamas can learn simple tasks after a few repetitions. When using a pack, they can carry about 25 to 30% of their body weight for 8 to 13 km (5–8 miles). The name llama (in the past also spelled "lama" or "glama") was adopted by European settlers from native Peruvians. (Full article...) -
Image 22
Orestias is a genus of pupfish. Older systematics classified them into the own family Orestiidae. They are found in lakes, rivers and springs in the Andean highlands of South America, and several species are considered threatened. They are egg-laying fish that feed on small animals and plant matter. The largest species can reach a total length of 27 cm (10.6 in), but most remain far smaller. Their most characteristic feature is the absence of the ventral fin, although this is shared by a few other pupfish. Despite their moderate to small size, they are important to local fisheries and a few species are farmed.
Several species are locally and colloquially known as carache. The name of the genus is a reference to Orestes, a Greek mythological character who Valenciennes described as the "nymph of the mountains". (Full article...) -
Image 23
Tronador (Spanish: Cerro Tronador) is an extinct stratovolcano in the southern Andes, located along the border between Argentina and Chile, near the Argentine city of Bariloche. The mountain was named Tronador (Spanish for "Thunderer") by locals in reference to the sound of falling seracs. With an altitude of 3,470 metres (11,380 ft), Tronador stands more than 1,000 m above nearby mountains in the Andean massif, making it a popular mountaineering destination. Located inside two national parks, Nahuel Huapi in Argentina and Vicente Pérez Rosales in Chile, Tronador hosts a total of eight glaciers, which are currently retreating due to warming of the upper troposphere. (Full article...) -
Image 24
Lanín is an ice-clad, cone-shaped stratovolcano on the border of Argentina and Chile. It forms part of two national parks: Lanín in Argentina and Villarrica in Chile. As a part of the flag and anthem of the Argentine province of Neuquén, it serves as a symbol for the region. Although the date of its last eruption is not known, it is estimated to have occurred within the last 10,000 years. Following the 1906 Valparaíso earthquake a local newspaper reported the volcano to have erupted, but a work published in 1917 by Karl Sapper disputed this.
The ascent is regulated by the management of Argentine National Parks and the Argentine National Gendarmerie and is technically relatively simple but has a much higher level of exposure than the neighbouring volcanoes. The nearest towns, usually employed as a base for climbers, are Pucón in Chile and Junín de los Andes in Argentina. (Full article...) -
Image 25
Chacaltaya (Mollo language for "bridge of winds" or "winds meeting point", Aymara for "cold road"[dubious – discuss]) is a mountain in the Cordillera Real, one of the mountain ranges of the Cordillera Oriental, itself a range of the Bolivian Andes. Its elevation is 5,421 meters (17,785 ft). Chacaltaya's glacier — which was as old as 18,000 years — had an area of 0.22 km2 (0.085 sq mi) in 1940, which had been reduced to 0.01 km2 (0.0039 sq mi) in 2007 and was completely gone by 2009. Half of the meltdown, as measured by volume, took place before 1980. The final meltdown after 1980, due to missing precipitation and the warm phase of El Niño, resulted in the glacier's disappearance in 2009. The glacier was located about 30 kilometers (19 mi) from La Paz, near Huayna Potosí mountain. (Full article...)
Did you know...
- ... that the 1930s Polish Andean expeditions have been credited with several first ascents and the tracing of a new route to the summit of Aconcagua, the Andes' highest peak?
Need help?
Do you have a question about Andes that you can't find the answer to?
Consider asking it at the Wikipedia reference desk.
General images
-
Image 1Bolivian Andes (from Andes)
-
Image 2Syncline next to Nordenskjöld Lake in Torres del Paine National Park. The syncline formed during the Andean orogeny. (from Andean orogeny)
-
Image 4Aerial view of Valle Carbajal in the Tierra del Fuego. The Andes range is about 200 km (124 mi) wide throughout its length, except in the Bolivian flexure where it is about 640 kilometres (398 mi) wide. (from Andes)
-
Image 5A male Andean cock-of-the-rock, a species found in humid Andean forests and the national bird of Peru (from Andes)
-
Image 6Map of a north-south sea-parallel pattern of rock ages in western Colombia. This pattern is a result of the Andean orogeny. (from Andean orogeny)
-
Image 11Pacha Mama Ceremony (from Andean agriculture)
-
Image 13Simplified sketch of the present-situation along most of the Andes (from Andean orogeny)
-
Image 14Irrigating land in the Peruvian Andes (from Andes)
-
Image 17The seaward tilting of the sedimentary strata of Salto del Fraile Formation in Peru was caused by the Andean orogeny. (from Andean orogeny)
-
Image 19Peruvian farmers sowing maize and beans (from Andes)
-
Image 20Pico Humboldt at sunset (from Andes)
-
Image 22Topographic map of the Andes by the NASA. The southern and northern ends of the Andes are not shown. The Bolivian Orocline is visible as a bend in the coastline and the Andes lower half of the map. (from Andean orogeny)
-
Image 26Paleogeography of the Late Cretaceous South America. Areas subject to the Andean orogeny are shown in light grey while the stable cratons are shown as grey squares. The sedimentary formations of Los Alamitos and La Colonia that formed in the Late Cretaceous are indicated. (from Andean orogeny)
-
Image 27Ulluco: Common crop of the Andean region (from Andean agriculture)
-
Image 28Mashua tubers (from Andean agriculture)
-
Image 29Central Andes (from Andes)
Subcategories
- Select [►] to view subcategories
Related portals
Subtopics
Associated Wikimedia
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
-
Commons
Free media repository -
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals -
Wikidata
Free knowledge base -
Wikinews
Free-content news -
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations -
Wikisource
Free-content library -
Wikiversity
Free learning tools -
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus