Landscapes in the Andes

Because the Andes Mountains range through so many different countries, different landscapes are found throughout the mountains. Despite persistent resemblances in the landscapes, different processes must be unique, given the impressive differences in flora and fauna, and biophysical aspects along the Andes
FLUVIAL LANDSCAPE
Most fluvial landscapes (rivers along the Andes) are found within the ranges of Argentina, Chile, and Peru. The fluvial processes within the Andes Mountains are very important to the world as a whole because South America delivers more freshwater runoff to the ocean per km2 land area than any other continent, and much of that water enters the fluvial system from headwaters in the Andes Mountains.(Harden, 1) One particularly interesting fluvial landscape, mainly composed of mountains with rivers and streams in between, is Cuzco, the capital of the Incan Empire.

The Uyucali River merges with the Urubamba River, which runs from Cuzco, the ancient capital of the Incan Empire. This river is centered just below the city of Atalaya, giving it great fluvial access.
COASTAL AND KARST LANDSCAPES
There are many caves, which is a characteristic of a karst landscape, throughout the Andes Mountains. One very popular one, located in the Eastern Andean slopes of Ecuador, is the Cueva de los Tayos. To the west of the Andes Mountains, in Peru, there are many beaches, deserts, and river valleys, all characteristics of a coastal landform. In Ecuador, and northern Peru, the Andes are composed of coastal lowlands, with many hill filled areas and delta like plains. The coast is also lined up with many dunes and beaches, portraying all of the coastal aspects of the Andes.

Located at an elevation of about 800 m within thinly-bedded limestone and shale, the principal entrance to Cueva de Los Tayos is within rainforest at the bottom of a dry valley.
GLACIAL LANDSCAPES
71% of the world's tropical glaciers are located in the Andes Mountains in the Peruvian region. As of right now, those glaciers are melting away quickly, a great concern to Peruvians because the glaciers are one of their main water supplies. Just on Tronador, an extinct stratovolcano in the southern Andes, there are 8 glaciers, which are also melting away due to the warming of the troposphere. ANDES MOUNTAINS CURRENT LANDSCAPE
Because of all the different countries and climates that this mountain range runs through, as of right now, the Andes Mountains consists of many different landscapes. Some of the dominating landscapes are glacial, as seen in most of Peru, and on the Tronador volcano, coastal, like in Ecuador where there are many beaches and sand dunes, and tropical marked by the many rainforest surrounding the Andes. The processes that create these various landscapes in the Andes are the different altitudes and climates that vary within each country the Andes crosses. For example, El Nevado del Ruiz in Colombia which is a glacial landscape, is one of very few places in Colombia which has permanent snow, because of its' high altitude.
ANDES MOUNTAINS IN THE FUTURE
1000 years from now I predict that the Andes will have very little glacial landforms. As of right now 22% of the current glaciers in the Andes are all melting away due to the heating of the troposphere. Because of this heating, I also believe that the tropical rainforests in the Andes will begin to dry out, taking away the tropical landforms of the Andes
10,000 years from now I believe that all of the glaciers in the Andes will have melted, leaving nothing but karst landscape behind. I also believe that recent lack of volcanic activity in the Andes will lead to all of the volcanoes becoming extinct. 100,000 years from now, I predict that the Andes mountains will be a desert like barren. This is because of all the glaciers having completely melted away, also the rain forests having dried out will take the humidity in the mountains away adding to the desert like landscape.
WORKS CITED
Harden, Carol P. "Human Impacts on Fluvial Systems in Central Andes." (n.d.): n. pag. Web. .

Winds, Precipitation, Climate

MOUNTAIN WINDS & PRECIPITATION
It is speculated that the very high winds of the Andes Mountains lead to acoustic waves, a wave that transmits sound. The acoustic waves eventually heat up the atmosphere at very tremendous rates. Observations of the Andes Mountains show that certain peaks of the mountains are as high as 400 degrees Celsius. The type of pressure most commonly found throughout the whole mountain range of the Andes is thermal pressure. Precipitation in the Andes displays a clear cut diurnal flow, meaning it runs 24 hours. The minimum amount of precipitation in the Andes happens in the morning no matter the season or location in Andes. The highest amount of precipitation occurs near midnight, close to the Cordillera, one of the volcanoes located in the Andes.

This is a radar image of one of the Andean peaks. It illustrates how the atmosphere above the peak reaches extremely high temperatures.
CLIMATE
The Andes Mountains climate changes drastically depending on what part of the Andes you are located in. In some parts of the Andes there are tropical rain forests, while just some miles away, there is a snowy peak. In the Koppen climate classification, the Andes start out at Af, in Colombia, where there are rain forest climates. The Andean "cloud forests" are found here, named because the area is covered in mist and clouds year round, as a result of the warm rain forest air meeting the cold mountain air. The Andes Mountains in Ecuador are classified as Aw meaning that tropical climate surrounds this area and it is very dry. In Bolivia, the Andes Mountains are classified as Bwh meaning that it consists of dry, desert like climates. Chile has two classifications, Csb and Cfb meaning it has warm temperatures, very dry and with precipitation. In Argentina, the Amdes' classification is Bwk which means the climate is just dry year round. All of these different climates are due to the different biomes found in the Andes.

Cloud forests are usually found on mountain ranges in the tropics, only in places that get 20 to 400 inches of rain a year. The warmness and humidity allow for many types of plants to grow here, as well as many species of birds. An abundance in orchids is also observed in the Andean cloud forest.

Mass Wasting, Soils, and Hydrology

MASS WASTING
Because the Andes Mountains are swarmed by steep valleys,volcanoes,high peaks,glaciers, and earthquakes they can be very vulnerable to rock movement and debris which consists of loose and fragmented rocks. There are many mass wasting disasters that have occurred in the Andes. In May 1970, an earthquake occurred in Peru, the earthquake took a slab of glacial ice that eventually came down the mountains breaking off rocks and sweeping up debris, covering the whole town of Yungay, Peru in broken rocks and debris. Another example is in the Nevada Del Ruiz in Colombia. An eruption of the Nevado Del Ruiz volcano triggered lahars, gigantic mudflows made of water, volcanic ash and debris.

The Nevado Del Ruiz volcano erupted on November 13th, 1985. The lahar that the eruption created went down the mountain into the city of Armero, killing over 20,000 people.

SOILS
Since the Andes Mountains are very high in altitude, soil conditions are deeply affected. One of the processes of soils in the Andes Mountains is Podzolization. Podzolization makes soil types like spodosols which is a soil rich in aluminum oxide and organic matter. This type of soil process happens because of the very high altitude. In other areas of the Andes, one common soil classification is Andisols. Andisols are volcanic soils formed in volcanic ash and containing high proportions of glass and amorphous. Another type of common soil in the Andes is histosol, which consists of organic materials, and is very good for storing organic carbon


Andisol is generally a young soil. Because of this, it is a fertile soil that can support productive forests.
HYDROLOGY
Ground water, is contained in both the saturation and aeration zones, and in all types of rocks and sediments below the Earth's surface. This type of water is scarce in the Andes. Water use in the Andes is completely dependent on surface water which is water that flows into lakes and ponds, and streams. As of right now, the water scarcity in the Andes is affecting the residents living close to the mountains because the amount of fresh water available to them keeps decreasing.

Andean Volcanic Belt

The Andean Volcanic Belt runs along Chile, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Argentina. Aracar Volcano
The Volcanic Belt came to be because of convergence, the Antarctic Plate and Nazca Plate rubbing underneath the South American Plate. The formation began at the time of the Jurassic period, but the Andes as we know them did not come to be until the Cretaceous

There are four main zones of the Andean Volcanic Belt. They are the Northern, Central, Southern, and Austral volcanic zones. These zones are considered to be the active regions in the Andes. The active regions are separated by volcanic gaps, zones lacking volcanic activity. These gaps are the Peruvian, Pampean, and the Patagonian gaps.
Most of the Andes volcanoes are stravolcanoes/composite volcanoes. Composite volcanoes occur because of subduction zones, in this case the Antarctic and Nazca plates colliding with the South American plate. They are made from lava, cinders, and ash. The volcanoes are composed of andesite.
The Nevado Del Ruiz volcano, located in the northern part of the Andes in Colombia, is known to be active. This volcano has a summit elevation of 5,389 m, and is covered with 25 km2 of snow and ice. The eruptions from this volcano produce lahars. A lahar is a volcanic mudflow created due to melting snow or ice from a an eruption. Lahars can become deadly because of the mudflow the melting snow creates. On November 13, 1985, Nevado Del Ruiz erupted, and created a lahar. The lahar came down on the city of Armero, killing most of its' residents.

To this day, the Nazca and Antarctic plate are still subducting with the South American plate. Because of this, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions such as the one in 1985 still occur.

Introduction

                         This blog is for Physical Geography 1202 and created by Elizabeth Martinez

The place I have chosen to blog about this semester is the South American Andes Mountains, the longest continental mountain range in the world.

I chose this place because I am from South America, and the Andes Mountains have always amazed me. Not only are they the longest mountains in the world, they also extend over seven different countries including  Ecuador, Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru, Chile, Argentina, and Colombia, where I am from.