The Venezuelan Andes (Spanish: ''Andes Venezolanos'') also simply known as the Andes (Spanish: ''Los Andes'') in Venezuela, are a mountain system that form the northernmost extension of the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S l ...

. They are fully identified, both by their geological origin as by the components of the relief, the constituent rocks and the geological structure. The Venezuelan Andean system represents the terminal bifurcation of the Cordillera Oriental de Colombia, which in Venezuelan territory consists of two mountainous branches: the Sierra de Perijá, smaller, slightly displaced from southwest to northeast with 7,500 km² in Venezuela; and a larger, frankly oriented Southwest to northeast with about 40,000 km², the

Cordillera de Mérida The Cordillera de Mérida is a series of mountain ranges, or massif, in northwestern Venezuela. The Cordillera de Mérida is a northeastern extension of the Andes Mountains and the most important branch of the Venezuelan Andes. The ranges run sout ...

, commonly known as the proper Venezuelan Andes. The highest point in

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

is located in this natural region.Pérez et al (Sep. 2005)
"Alturas del Pico Bolívar y otras cimas andinas venezolanas a partir de observaciones Gps."
INCI v.30, n.4, Caracas sep. 2005. Retrieved 2012-09-27. It covers around 5.2% of the national territory, being the 4th largest natural region in Venezuela.

Geography

Venezuelan Andes can be divided in two sections: *

: covering almost all the territory of Táchira, Mérida and Trujillo states, the southern area of

Lara Lara may refer to: Places * Lara (state), a state in Venezuela * Electoral district of Lara, an electoral district in Victoria, Australia * Lara, Antalya, an urban district in Turkey * Lara, Victoria, a township in Australia * Lara de los I ...

, and portions of higher areas on the western side of Barinas,

Apure Apure State ( es, Estado Apure, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. Its territory formed part of the provinces of Mérida, Maracaibo, and Barinas, in accordance with successive territorial ordinations pronounced by the colonial authori ...

and Portuguesa states. It can be divided in three subregions: # Western Venezuelan Andes ( Macizo del Tamá, Páramos Batallón y La Negra). # Central Venezuelan Andes (Macizo del Sur,

Sierra Nevada de Mérida The Sierra Nevada de Mérida is the highest mountain range in the largest massif in Venezuela, the Cordillera de Mérida, which in turn is part of the northern extent of the Cordillera de los Andes (Andes Mountains). The Sierra Nevada de Mérida i ...

, Sierra de la Culata, Sierra de Santo Domingo). # North-Eastern Venezuelan Andes ( Sierra de Trujillo, Sierra de Portuguesa, Lara Andes) * Sierra de Perijá: located at the western extreme of Venezuela in

Zulia Zulia State ( es, Estado Zulia, ; Wayuu: ''Mma’ipakat Suuria'') is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Maracaibo. As of the 2011 census, it has a population of 3,704,404, the largest population among Venezuela's states. It ...

state, bordering

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Cari ...

Geology

They have a common geological origin, which dates back to the

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', "da ...

period of the early

Tertiary Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago. The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...

era, about 40-50 million years ago, coincides with the beginning of the contact of the three

tectonic plates Plate tectonics (from the la, label=Late Latin, tectonicus, from the grc, τεκτονικός, lit=pertaining to building) is the generally accepted scientific theory that considers the Earth's lithosphere to comprise a number of large te ...

( Nazca,

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean S ...

and

South American South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

) that began their orographic rise. Before the rise of the current Venezuelan Andes, between the

Cambrian The Cambrian Period ( ; sometimes symbolized Ꞓ) was the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 53.4 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran Period 538.8 million years ag ...

and

Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 24.6 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the shortest period of the Paleozo ...

periods, the so-called ''primitive Andes'' emerged, which already for the

Triassic period The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...

(

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceo ...

era) had been almost completely flattened because of the intense erosive process to which were subjected.

Quaternary tectonics

It's characterized by the interaction of the three most important lithospheric plates in the region: Nazca,

and

. A northwest-southwest oriented direction of compression produces vertical and horizontal deformation components, with the formation of thrusts align the Andean borders, and

strike-slip fault In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tecton ...

s. The split of Venezuelan Andes apparently began in the Late Eocene, and its present height was probably attained before the Quaternary. During the

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million yea ...

. the main active structures are the strike-slip faults. the principal one being the Boconó Fault Zone, with a measured dextral displacement of several millimeters per year. In the field this displacement is shown by the existence of fault trenches, fault depressions,

sag pond A sag pond is a body of fresh water collected in the lowest parts of a depression formed between two sides of an active strike-slip, transtensional or normal fault zone. Formation A sag pond is formed along a strike-slip fault, which may creat ...

s, offset ridges and lateral moraines.

Glacial geology

Like all tropical mountain ranges with altitudes above 3,000 m, the Venezuelan Andes were affected by Pleistocene glaciations.

Late Pleistocene glaciation

Two morainic complexes have been recognized in the

: one between 2,600 and 2,800 m altitude, and another one between 2,900 and 3,500 m. These two levels have been considered as Early and Late Stades, respectively, of the Mérida glaciation. The moraines of the Late Stade are topographically well represented, and several superposed moraines, or morainic complexes, are found. The glaciated area in Cordillera de Mérida during the

Last Glacial Maximum The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), also referred to as the Late Glacial Maximum, was the most recent time during the Last Glacial Period that ice sheets were at their greatest extent. Ice sheets covered much of Northern North America, Northern Eu ...

was approximately 600 km² In the Sierra de Perijá, the existence of moraines has been mentioned at altitudes between 2,700 and 3,100 m. In the absence of more detailed data, these have been tentatively assigned to the Late Stade of the Mérida glaciation.

Late Holocene glaciation

Evidence of Late Holocene morainic sedimentation are based on palynological and radiocarbon analyses, which established a cold phase between the 15th and middle-19th centuries, which can be correlate with the

Little Ice Age The Little Ice Age (LIA) was a period of regional cooling, particularly pronounced in the North Atlantic region. It was not a true ice age of global extent. The term was introduced into scientific literature by François E. Matthes in 1939. Ma ...

. The moraines associated with this phase are most probably those located at an altitude of approximately 4,700 m between 100 and 200 below the terminal zone of present-day glaciers.

Gallery

Laguna Los Cedros (11846232765).jpg, Los Cedros Lagoon, Trujillo State Fauna de Los Andes venezolanos.JPG, Fauna of the Venezuelan Andes Pico Humboldt, cara sur.jpg, Humboldt Peak Pico Humboldt Venezuela.JPG, Snow in the Humboldt Peak Vista del Río Burate.jpg, Butare River

References

{{clear Mountain ranges of the Andes