The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (English: ''Snow-Covered Mountain Range of Saint Martha'') is an isolated mountain range in northern

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, separate from the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

range that runs through the north of the country. Reaching an elevation of just from the Caribbean coast, the Sierra Nevada is the highest coastal range in the tropics, and one of the highest coastal ranges in the world, being shorter than the

Saint Elias Mountains The Saint Elias Mountains () are a subgroup of the Pacific Coast Ranges, located in southeastern Alaska in the United States, Southwestern Yukon and the very far northwestern part of British Columbia in Canada. The range spans Wrangell-St. Elias ...

in Canada. The Sierra Nevada encompasses about and serves as the source of 36 rivers. The range is in the Departments of Magdalena,

Cesar Cesar or César may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''César'' (film), a 1936 French romantic drama * ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt Places * Cesar, Portugal * Cesar Department, Colombia * Cesar River, in Colombia * Cesar ...

and

La Guajira La Guajira () is a departments of Colombia, department of Colombia. It occupies most of the Guajira Peninsula in the northeast region of the country, on the Caribbean Sea and bordering Venezuela, at the northernmost tip of South America. The ca ...

. The highest point of the Sierra Nevada group (and Colombia in general) may be either

Pico Cristóbal Colón Pico Cristóbal Colón is possibly the highest mountain in Colombia, with a reported height of . Pico Cristóbal Colón and Pico Simón Bolívar are the two highest peaks in Colombia and almost equal in elevation. One of the two mountains is the ...

Pico Simón Bolívar Pico Simón Bolívar is possibly the highest mountain in Colombia, with an estimated height of . Pico Bolívar and the neighbouring summit of Pico Cristóbal Colón are the two highest peaks in Colombia and are very nearly equal in elevation. T ...

, both in the municipalities of

Santa Marta Santa Marta (), officially the Distrito Turístico, Cultural e Histórico de Santa Marta (), is a port List of cities in Colombia, city on the coast of the Caribbean Sea in northern Colombia. It is the capital of Magdalena Department and the fou ...

and

Aracataca Aracataca (colloquially sometimes referred to as "Cataca") is a town and municipality located in the Department of Magdalena, in Colombia's Caribbean Region. Aracataca is a river town founded in 1885. The town stands beside a small river of t ...

; it has yet to be determined which is higher.

SRTM The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) is an international research effort that obtained digital elevation models on a near-global scale from 56th parallel south, 56°S to 60th parallel north, 60°N, to generate the most complete high-resol ...

data and local topographic maps show that their true elevations are approximately , lower than the elevation that is often quoted. The Sierra Nevada is a compact group, relatively small in area, and completely surrounded by lands with elevations below . Although it is associated with the

Tropical Andes The Tropical Andes is northern of the three climate-delineated parts of the Andes, the others being the Dry Andes and the Wet Andes. The Tropical Andes' area spans . Geography and ecology file:Andes_clima.png, 200px, Map of the climatic regio ...

, the main backbone of the Andes cannot be reached from the Sierra Nevada without dropping below this level. This makes its highest point the world's fifth most prominent summit. Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta topography

Several peaks in the Sierra Nevada are intervisible with Cerro Paramillo, a peak in

Antioquia Department Antioquia () is one of the 32 departments of Colombia, located in the central northwestern part of Colombia with a narrow section that borders the Caribbean Sea. Most of its territory is mountainous with some valleys, much of which is part o ...

. This implies a theoretical direct line of sight of just over , reported to be the longest between any two points on the surface of the Earth.

Climate

It is calculated that the yearly average rainfall is at elevations of . The temperature varies between .

Biodiversity

The tropical rainforest is made up of perennial trees, with a canopy reaching between . There is a great variety and large populations of

epiphyte An epiphyte is a plant or plant-like organism that grows on the surface of another plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphyt ...

s and

liana A liana is a long-Plant stem, stemmed Woody plant, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the Canopy (biology), canopy in search of direct sunlight. T ...

s, and more than 3,000 species of

vascular plant Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes (, ) or collectively tracheophyta (; ), are plants that have lignin, lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They also have a specialized non-lignified Ti ...

s are found in the area. The indigenous peoples made an alcoholic beverage from fruits of the palm ''

Attalea maripa ''Attalea maripa'', commonly called maripa palm is a palm native to tropical South America and Trinidad and Tobago. It grows up tall and can have leaves or fronds long. This plant has a yellow edible fruit which is oblong ovoid and cream. An ...

'' found at the lower elevations. Of Colombia's 340 endemic species, 44 are found in the park, for example seven species of endemic hummingbirds. Of the 3,057 endangered species, 44 are found here. The area is home to 440 species of birds, including

black-fronted wood-quail The black-fronted wood quail (''Odontophorus atrifrons'') is a bird species in the family Odontophoridae, the New World quail. It is found in Colombia and Venezuela. Taxonomy and systematics Some authors have suggested that the black-fronted wo ...

king vulture The king vulture (''Sarcoramphus papa'') is a large bird found in Central and South America. It is a member of the New World vulture family Cathartidae. This vulture lives predominantly in tropical lowland forests stretching from southern Mex ...

Andean condor The Andean condor (''Vultur gryphus'') is a South American New World vulture and is the only member of the genus ''Vultur''. It is found in the Andes mountains and adjacent Pacific coasts of western South America. With a maximum wingspan of and ...

Santa Marta warbler The Santa Marta warbler (''Myiothlypis basilica'') is a species of bird in the family Parulidae. It is endemic to the Santa Marta Mountains in Colombia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and heavily degraded ...

and

Santa Marta parakeet The Santa Marta parakeet (''Pyrrhura viridicata'') is an Endangered species of bird in subfamily Arinae of the family Psittacidae, the African and New World parrots. It is endemic to Colombia. Taxonomy and systematics The Santa Marta parakee ...

. Mammals found in the park include:

tapir Tapirs ( ) are large, herbivorous mammals belonging to the family Tapiridae. They are similar in shape to a Suidae, pig, with a short, prehensile nose trunk (proboscis). Tapirs inhabit jungle and forest regions of South America, South and Centr ...

cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North America, North, Central America, Cent ...

jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...

squirrel Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae (), a family that includes small or medium-sized rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrel ...

, ''

Transandinomys talamancae ''Transandinomys talamancae'' is a rodent in the Family (biology), family Cricetidae that occurs from Costa Rica to southwestern Ecuador and northern Venezuela. Its habitat consists of lowland forests up to above sea level. With a body mass of ...

'',

otter Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which includes weasels, badgers, mink, and wolverines, among ...

, and

brocket deer Brockets or brocket deer are the species of deer in the genus ''Mazama''. They are medium to small in size, and are found in the Yucatán Peninsula, Central and South America, and the island of Trinidad. Most species are primarily found in fores ...

. The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is home to a number of

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...

s, which vary with elevation. The

Guajira–Barranquilla xeric scrub The Guajira–Barranquilla xeric scrub is a deserts and xeric shrublands, xeric shrubland ecoregion in Colombia, Venezuela, and the ABC Islands (Leeward Antilles), covering an estimated area of . Rainfall varies from , and the median temperature i ...

region lies near the Caribbean seacoast to the north of the range. The

Sinú Valley dry forests Sinú may refer to: * Sinú River, Colombia * The Zenú, also known as Sinú, peoples of Colombia * "Sinu" (Masterpiece song), a 2009 song by Malaysian band Masterpiece See also * * Sinew, a tough band of fibrous connective tissue that connec ...

cover the range's lower slopes, up to an elevation of . The

Santa Marta montane forests The Santa Marta montane forests (NT0159) is an ecoregion in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, a massif on the Caribbean coast of northern Colombia. The ecoregion covers elevations from near sea level up to around , where it gives way to Santa Mart ...

lie above . The montane forests are separated from other moist forests by the lower-elevation dry forests and xeric shrublands, and have large numbers of

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

species. The montane forest ecoregion has several distinct plant communities, distinguished by altitude and rainfall; moist lowland forests cover the windward northern and western flanks of the range between , and the drier eastern and southern flanks from . Above is a transitional forest zone of smaller trees and palms.

Cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, Montane forest, montane, Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist forest characteri ...

s occur above ; the Sub-Andean forests from form a canopy tall, while the higher-elevation Andean forests, between , grow to in height. The

Santa Marta Páramo The Santa Marta páramo (NT1007) is an ecoregion containing páramo (high moorland) vegetation above the treeline in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. The isolated position of the range has allowed ...

, a high altitude belt of

montane grasslands and shrublands Montane grasslands and shrublands are a biome defined by the World Wildlife Fund. The biome includes high elevation grasslands and shrublands around the world. The term "montane" in the name of the biome refers to "high elevation", rather than t ...

interspersed with marshes and acid bogs, occupies the zone between . The Santa Marta Páramo is the northernmost enclave of

Páramo Páramo () may refer to a variety of alpine tundra ecosystems located in the Andes Mountain Range, South America. Some ecologists describe the páramo broadly as "all high, tropical, montane vegetation above the continuous timberline". A narrower ...

in South America, which occur along the Andes belt. Above lies the permanent snow cap.

National Natural Park

The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta National Natural Park () is

's second oldest

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

, established in 1964. It is located in the Cordillera Oriental range, between the departments of

, Magdalena and

, in the mountain range of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. It is a sanctuary as well as a tourist attraction, because it offers different climate, terrain, flora and fauna environments, ranging from

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from Rock (geology), rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle beach, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological s ...

es to snowy mountain peaks. Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta National Natural Park is considered a unique place in the world, due to its isolation from the Andes, and its highest peak ( above sea level) is located just away from the sea. All the water courses that originate in the national park drain to the Caribbean sea whether directly (e. g. rivers Ranchería, Don Diego, Palomino, Buritaca, Guachaca, Cañas, etc.) or through the

Magdalena River The Magdalena River (, ; less commonly ) is the main river of Colombia, flowing northward about through the western half of the country. It takes its name from the biblical figure Mary Magdalene. It is navigable through much of its lower reaches, ...

system that includes the

Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta The Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta ( Spanish for Large Marsh of Saint Martha) is the largest of the swampy marshes located in Colombia between the Magdalena River and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. It has an area of and belongs to the outer d ...

, (e.g. rivers

, Ariguaní, Fundación, Frío, Aracataca, etc.). Roughly 1.2 million people are dependent upon the freshwater supplied by the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta rivers. There are currently about 30,000

indigenous people There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

of the ethnic groups

Koguis The Kogi ( ), or Cogui, or Kágaba, meaning "jaguar" in the Kogi language, are an Indigenous group that resides in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains in northern Colombia. Their culture has continued since the Pre-Columbian era. Langua ...

Arhuacos The Arhuaco are an Indigenous people of Colombia. They are Chibchan-speaking people and descendants of the Tairona culture, concentrated in northern Colombia in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Name The Arhuaco are also known as the Aruaco, ...

, Kankuamos and Wiwa living in the area. This park is also home to the remnants of the Tairona Culture. In 1979, the park was designated a

Biosphere reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

. A 2013 report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature on the world's most irreplaceable protected areas identified the park as the most irreplaceable park in the world for threatened species.

Geology

Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta desde el espacio

It is composed of

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

metamorphic rocks (predominantly

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock generally derived from fine-grained sedimentary rock, like shale. It shows pronounced ''schistosity'' (named for the rock). This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a l ...

s and

gneiss Gneiss (pronounced ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. This rock is formed under p ...

es) and quartzdioritic intrusives of

Tertiary Tertiary (from Latin, meaning 'third' or 'of the third degree/order..') may refer to: * Tertiary period, an obsolete geologic period spanning from 66 to 2.6 million years ago * Tertiary (chemistry), a term describing bonding patterns in organic ch ...

age. 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), as well as the current and most recent of the twelve periods of the ...

of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is mainly represented by

colluvial Colluvium (also colluvial material or colluvial soil) is a general name for loose, unconsolidated sediments that have been deposited at the base of hillslopes by either rainwash, sheetwash, slow continuous downslope creep, or a variable combina ...

alluvial Alluvium (, ) is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluvium is also sometimes called alluvial deposit. Alluvium is ...

valley fill and by recent beach deposits. The coastlines of the northwestern part of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta are indented, reflecting the alternation of rocky headlands and deep, north-northwest trending

tectonic Tectonics ( via Latin ) are the processes that result in the structure and properties of the Earth's crust and its evolution through time. The field of ''planetary tectonics'' extends the concept to other planets and moons. These processes ...

ally controlled bays. The headlands are typically cliffs cut into schists and

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

s, whereas the

embayment A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

s front alluvial valley deposits. The bay shores are typically steep, reflective beaches composed of very coarse sand to granules eroded from adjacent cliffs and alluvial deposits. Wide pocket beaches and

tombolo A tombolo is a sandy or shingle isthmus. It is a deposition landform by which an island becomes attached to the mainland by a narrow piece of land such as a spit or bar. Once attached, the island is then known as a tied island. The word ''t ...

s are common along sectors with abundant rocky erosional remnants and stacks.

Fauna

Three species of reptiles which are native to the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta are named after it: '' Anolis santamartae'', a lizard; '' Atractus sanctaemartae'', a snake; and '' Lepidoblepharis sanctaemartae'', a lizard. The range is home to about 20 endemic bird species.

Inhabitants

The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is home to the remnants of the

Native American Native Americans or Native American usually refers to Native Americans in the United States. Related terms and peoples include: Ethnic groups * Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the pre-Columbian peoples of North, South, and Central America ...

Tairona Culture;

, Wiwas and Kankuamos, that live in ''Resguardos Indigenas'' (indigenous reserves) located in the mid-highlands.

Recent access problems

For the last ten years, access to the highest summits has been very difficult, and this situation continues

although there is a documented ascent of

in December 2015. This was due to opposition from locals in the southern side of the mountain to aid and allow climbers to explore the place. Their aid and permission is important for success in the summit. Colombian conflict, Armed turmoil has also proven to hinder access to the place, notwithstanding the peace process carried on since 2016. The only safe and relatively straightforward access is from Santa Marta city to Cuchillo de San Lorenzo, but that is only to (although it provides excellent views of the peaks).

References

External links

*http://www.colombia.com/colombiainfo/parquesnaturales/sierranevada.asp * * * * *
Case study by Fundación Pró-Sierra Nevada de Santa MartaThe Guardian
com: "The Lure of Colombia's Lost City" (2009)]
Royal Geography Society − Hidden Journeys project: "Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta − Sampling the food cultures of northern Colombia with hungry cyclist Tom Kevill-Davies"
— ''audio slideshow''. {{authority control Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta,

National parks of Colombia Geography of Cesar Department Geography of La Guajira Department Geography of Magdalena Department

Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (English: ''Snow-Covered Mountain Range of Saint Martha'') is an isolated mountain range in northern Colombia, separate from the Andes range that runs through the north of the country. Reaching an elevation of ...

Biosphere reserves of Colombia Protected areas established in 1964 1964 establishments in Colombia Ecoregions of Colombia Páramos Tourist attractions in Cesar Department Tourist attractions in La Guajira Department Tourist attractions in Magdalena Department Magdalena River World Heritage Tentative List for Colombia