South America is as mysterious for our people as the same Australia, in fact, just as unattainable, incomprehensible and mysterious. A lot of adventure books have been written about her and the same number of at least adventure films have been shot. Jungles, monkeys, alligators, piranhas - all this should certainly be present in a good action movie, and all this is fully inherent in South America.
South American Mountain System
But not only such stereotypical things are present on this continent. One of the most interesting geographical features are the mountains of South America. They can be described in one word: "the most". Because in almost all characteristics they "win" the rest of the mountain systems of the world. So, the mountains of South America are the longest chain. Their total length reaches almost nine thousand kilometers. At the same time, they pass through the maximum number of countries - they are located on the territory of seven states.
Only in height mountain systemsSouth America occupy an honorable second place: they were ahead of the Himalayas. They are also winners by definition of the highest point on the planet. However, we note that the highest mountain in South America - Aconcagua - again follows immediately after Everest, and at the same time it is also the highest peak of the entire hemisphere. Moreover, Aconcagua is an extinct volcano and in the competition for height, it still defeats the rest of the mountains, since there is no longer a higher volcano in the world. This largest mountain in South America is located in Argentina and has a height of almost seven kilometers (6960 m).
Mountain we alth
The mountains of South America got their name - the Andes - the mountains of South America, one might say, from the ancient Incas. The word "anta" meant "mountains of copper" in their language. Apparently, the Incas valued this metal more than other minerals, since they called their mountains that way. The Andes mountains of South America are rich not only in copper. Other metals are also being developed here. Among them are lead, zinc, tin and even vanadium. Rich deposits of precious metals - platinum and gold - have also been found, high-quality emeralds are also mined.
There are oil and gas deposits in the foothills of the Andes (mainly in Venezuela), although they are not as significant as in Iraq or Saudi Arabia.
Geographic division of mountains
The South American mountain system frames the entire mainland from the west and north. Its width is not so great compared to its length - "only" three hundred kilometers. But due to its hugeThe length of the Andes - the mountains of South America - is usually divided into several parts, also called "clusters". Geographers distinguish four such "segments".
North and West
The first part is the Northern Andes. The very north of South America (plus the island of Trinidad) is relatively low mountains that run along the coast. They also include the higher massif of the Cordillera de Merida, which is located to the west, and the isolated system of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, already located on the Pacific coast. The highest mountain in South America in this part of the Andes is Cristobal Colon (5, 744 km).
The Western Andes run parallel to the Central Andes, also along the ocean, merging into a single ridge already in Ecuador. Between them are volcanoes - both extinct and active. Among them is the second highest mountain in South America (Chimborazo). This is also a volcano, like Aconcagua, but lower by 700 meters. The highest active volcano, Cotopaxi, is also located here. But it is less than six kilometers high.
South and East
Eastern Andes also marked by active volcanoes. Here they are quite high, but still lower than Cotopaxi. Although on average this is the highest part of the Southern Cordillera, as the mountains of South America are also called.
The Chilean-Argentine part is the narrowest in the Andes. In some places it comes down to one mountain range called the Cordillera Major. This is where Aconcagua is located. At least half of the peaks of this cluster are active volcanoes to this day.
And finally the SouthAndes. In this part of the mainland, the mountains drop again, and the most prominent peak is only three and a half kilometers away.
Formation of the Andes: history and modernity
The average height of the Southern Cordillera, according to geographers, is four kilometers. The mountains are quite young, but their main formation has already been completed. Now they are slowly being destroyed. It is accelerated by the presence of the nearby Pacific Ocean, which almost undermines the mountains. The map of South America clearly shows how close the waters come. Winds from the oceans and moist air accelerate the process of destruction, in connection with which the mountains lose almost a centimeter of height a year.
However, volcanoes also make their contribution, which, as already mentioned, are numerous in the Andes, and a significant number of them are still active. Thanks to them, some vertices can still "grow", so that the average height of the system remains the same.
South American Mountain Diversity
In different places of the Andes, the landscape, relief, and vegetation are very different. This is explained, firstly, by the fact that separate parts of the mountain ranges were formed in different geological epochs. And secondly, the fact that the Southern Cordillera is very long and crosses several natural belts.
The central part of the Andes, under the influence of the cold Peruvian current, becomes a rather cool zone. On a plateau called Pune, the temperature does not rise more than +10, and sometimes drops to -25 degrees. The planet's driest Atacama Desert is also located here.
Southern Andes issubtropics. And although in the hottest month the air does not warm up above +15, it is very humid and there is a lot of precipitation - an abundance of sleet or rain.
So if you travel from end to end of the South American mountains, you can see most of the climatic zones with your own eyes.
Climbing attraction
Southern Cordillera, due to its height and unusualness, are very interesting for climbers. People come here from all over the world, including from Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union.
The two most popular climbing "objects": the highest mountain in South America, that is, Aconcagua, and the peak of Alpamayo. The first one on the list is considered fairly easy to overcome. The mountain is attractive, rather, precisely for its height and views. However, to conquer Aconcagua you need to have good mountaineering experience, endurance and reliable tolerance of rarefied air. The danger for the conquerors is mainly the changeable weather in the Aconcagua region. Its sudden change is what makes the mountain so dangerous.
Alpamayo is another matter. It is considered the most impregnable in South America and is one of the ten world's "difficult" mountains. The angle between the "walls" of Alpamayo and the ground reaches 60 degrees. Even well-equipped climbers most often do not reach half of the mountain. Few reached the top. And the first time Alpamayo was conquered in 1951 by two climbers from the Belgian-French expedition.
Among beginner climbers, climbing Cotopaxi is considered interesting. Volcano, though active, but nowsleeping. Like many other peaks, it was not conquered the first time. In the early 19th century, two rock climbers tried to climb to the top and failed. This, in principle, is not surprising, but it's a shame that they could not overcome only the last 300 meters.
Despite the difficult moments of the route, today Cotopaxi is accessible even to a trained beginner. The main thing is not to forget to dress warmly, at the top the temperature rarely rises above -10.
A curious nuance is the need for a night trip: you must return to the camp before the path from the snow melts.
So the mountains of South America are interesting in very different directions, and if you have the opportunity, you should definitely go there.
