The Três Pontas Mountains is a geological formation located in the Brazilian municipality of

Três Pontas Três Pontas (, ''Three Tips'') is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality located in southern Minas Gerais state, Brazil. It's a city with about all streets of urban zone paved and services of water and sewage to all people. The municipality h ...

, in the southern region of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

. Its altitude, which reaches a maximum of above sea level, stands out in relation to the surrounding terrain, with altitudes varying around . Although it seems like an isolated mountain system, the mountain range is considered an extension of the Bocaina Mountains, located about away in the municipality of

Lavras Lavras is a municipality in southern Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Located at an altitude of 919 m, it has a population of 104,761 inhabitants (2022). The area of the municipality is 564,495 km2. The average annual temperature is 19.6°C and t ...

, which, in turn, is considered a counterfort of the

Mantiqueira Mountains The Mantiqueira Mountains (Portuguese: ''Serra da Mantiqueira iterally: Mantiqueira Mountains Chain') are a mountain range in Southeastern Brazil, with parts in the states of São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro (st ...

. It is basically a rocky massif formed mainly by

quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock that was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tecton ...

and covered with a thin layer of

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...

resulting from the disintegration of the

rocks In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks form the Earth's ...

. The altitude, climate, and rocky composition of the mountain range provide for the formation of peculiar herbaceous structures, characteristic of high-altitude regions. Covered by altitude fields and rupestrian fields, the plant species are quite differentiated from the regions around the mountain. In addition, in the drainage furrows there are forest formations. Since the beginning of the settlement of the region, around the 18th century, the mountain range was used as a reference point for travelers and muleteers.

Slaves Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

also used it as a refuge, building a

quilombo A ''quilombo'' (); from the Kimbundu word , ) is a Brazilian hinterland town, settlement founded by people of Afro-Brazilians, African origin, and others sometimes called Carabali. Most of the inhabitants of quilombos, called quilombolas, were ...

(the Cascalho Quilombo) in its vicinity, but it was destroyed shortly thereafter. Its peculiar shape gave birth to the city of Três Pontas and has always been part of the culture of the municipality, being present in municipal symbols and in its cultural productions.

Geological structure

The mountain range originated during the

Precambrian The Precambrian ( ; or pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pC, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of t ...

period and is basically formed by metaquartzite in association with

sericite Sericite is the name given to very fine, ragged grains and Aggregate (geology), aggregates of white (colourless) micas, typically made of muscovite, illite, or paragonite. Sericite is produced by the alteration of orthoclase or plagioclase feldsp ...

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 ...

. The quartzite rocks are quite resistant to

weathering Weathering is the deterioration of rocks, soils and minerals (as well as wood and artificial materials) through contact with water, atmospheric gases, sunlight, and biological organisms. It occurs '' in situ'' (on-site, with little or no move ...

, and that is why there is only a thin layer of

gravel Gravel () is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally on Earth as a result of sedimentation, sedimentary and erosion, erosive geological processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gr ...

and

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural ...

covering the mountain, resulting from the disaggregation and subsequent fragmentation of the rock components, which form the

Leptosol A Leptosol in the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) is a very shallow soil over continuous rock or a deeper soil that is extremely rich in coarse fragments (gravelly and/or stony). Leptosols cover approximately 1.7 billion hectares o ...

soil, of small thickness, stony, dry and with low fertility. In the vicinity of the mountain there are also yellow-red

Acrisol An Acrisol is a Reference Soil Group of the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB). It has a clay-rich subsoil. It is associated with humid, tropical climates, such as those found in Brazil, and often supports forested areas. In the USDA s ...

s, haplic

Cambisol A Cambisol in the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) is a soil in the beginning of soil formation. The horizon differentiation is weak. This is evident from weak, mostly brownish discolouration and/or structure formation in the soil pro ...

and litholic Neosol.

Vegetation

The altitude, location and mild climate (type Cwb of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification) allow for the existence of peculiar vegetation in the Três Pontas Mountains.

Lithophyte Lithophytes are plants that grow in or on rocks. They can be classified as either epilithic (or epipetric) or endolithic; epilithic lithophytes grow on the surfaces of rocks, while endolithic lithophytes grow in the crevices of rocks (and are als ...

formations are found on the rock walls, characterized by plants that grow directly on the rocks, formed by representatives of the groups of

Velloziaceae Velloziaceae is a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants. The APG II system, of 2003 (unchanged from the APG system, 1998), also recognizes this family, and assigns it to the order Pandanales. Relationships and evolution By contrast to oth ...

Bromeliaceae The Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) are a family of monocot flowering plants of about 80 genera and 3700 known species, native mainly to the tropical Americas, with several species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa, ...

Orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...

aceae,

pteridophyte A pteridophyte is a vascular plant (with xylem and phloem) that reproduces by means of spores. Because pteridophytes produce neither flowers nor seeds, they are sometimes referred to as " cryptogams", meaning that their means of reproduction is ...

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...

es and

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

s. In areas of flattened topography in the mountains there are vegetation formations that characterize the altitude fields and, in the steepest regions, there are the rupestrian fields. These formations are characterized by the presence of a stratum consisting of low

grasses Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in ...

, with thin and tough leaves, in addition to the presence of plants of the

Cyperaceae The Cyperaceae () are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as wikt:sedge, sedges. The family (biology), family is large; botanists have species description, described some 5,500 known species in about 90 ...

and

Eriocaulaceae The Eriocaulaceae are a family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the order Poales, commonly known as the pipewort family. The family is large, with about 1207 known species described in seven genera. They are widely distri ...

families. In areas with quartzite outcroppings there are also colonies of

Asteraceae Asteraceae () is a large family (biology), family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the Order (biology), order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchi ...

Malpighiaceae Malpighiaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Malpighiales. It comprises about 73 genera and 1315 species, all of which are native to the tropics and subtropics. About 80% of the genera and 90% of the species occur in the New World ( ...

Vochysiaceae Vochysiaceae is a plant family belonging to the order Myrtales. Description Trees or shrubs with opposite leaves; flowers are zygomorph 1-(3)-5 merous; ovary inferior or superior; one fertile stamen; fruits samara or capsules. Biogeography ...

, and

Cactaceae A cactus (: cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae (), a family of the order Caryophyllales comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, ...

. The first

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

(Velloziaceae) are the most notable in the area, especially on its south-southeast slope. During a certain season the plants produce purplish, red, yellow, or white

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s. Among other

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

and

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of plants that stand out in the highlands for the beauty and peculiarity of their flowers are '' Paepalanthus'' and '' Syngonanthus''. The altitude fields are part of the Atlantic Forest, while the rupestrian fields belong to the

Cerrado The Cerrado () is a vast ecoregion of Tropics, tropical savanna in central Brazil, being present in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, Maranhão, Piauí, Bahia, Minas Gerais, São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Paraná ...

. The mountains therefore characterize a transition zone between these two

biome A biome () is a distinct geographical region with specific climate, vegetation, and animal life. It consists of a biological community that has formed in response to its physical environment and regional climate. In 1935, Tansley added the ...

s. In the furrows that make up the drainage network of the mountain system there is a frequent occurrence of forest formations. In these narrow strips are found several native species such as ''perobas'', ''aroeiras'' (''

Astronium fraxinifolium ''Astronium fraxinifolium'' is a timber tree, which is native to Amazon Rainforest, Atlantic Forest, Caatinga, and Cerrado vegetation in Brazil. Common names include kingwood, locustwood, tigerwood, and zebrawood. It is known in Portuguese as Go ...

'' and ''

Lithraea molleoides ''Lithraea molleoides'' is a tree (2.5 and 8 m tall) that is native to South America, specially in Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, and the Cerrado vegetation of Brazil. Landscaping The plant is commonly considered as unsuitable to landscaping, as i ...

'') ''ipês'', ''quaresmeiras'' and ''jacaranda'' trees.

Historical and cultural importance

During the first half of the 13th century, the region was little known. The first travelers and muleteers passing through the region used the peculiarly shaped mountain as a reference point during their expeditions. Runaway slaves also passed through the area. In 1746, there was a sort of large quilombola confederation that spread over a large area, including the municipality of Três Pontas, and its central point was the Ambrósio Quilombo, near Cristais. With its destruction, the runaway slaves spread throughout the region, and some of them headed for the hills, where they formed the Cascalho Quilombo, which was probably extinguished between 1743 and 1746. However, stone walls possibly built by the slaves during their stay in the region exist in the hills. The mountain range, due to its peculiar shape, originated the name of the municipality of which it is part and is considered one of the main characteristics of Três Pontas. In its

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

, created in 1930, the "''Maria Fumaça''" train, the rising sun, and the Três Pontas mountain range are highlighted. Years later, in 1976, the singer

Milton Nascimento Milton Silva Campos do Nascimento (; born October 26, 1942), also known as Bituca, is a Brazilian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Nascimento has recorded 32 studio albums and has won five Grammy Awards, including Best World Music ...

released his album '' Geraes'', which on its cover contained a drawing extolling the mountain and which later came to be used as a symbol of the city.

Gallery

File:Serra de Três Pontas 2.JPG, View of the lower part of the mountain File:Serra de Três Pontas 3.JPG, View of the range from its highest point File:Serra de Três Pontas 4.JPG, Partial view of the mountain File:Serra de Três Pontas 5.JPG, Partial view of the mountain File:Serra de Três Pontas 6.JPG, Partial view of the mountain File:Vegetação da Serra de Três Pontas 01.JPG, Plants in the mountains File:Serra de Três Pontas 8.JPG, View of the fields at the top of the mountain File:Vegetação da Serra de Três Pontas 03.JPG, Typical flower of the Três Pontas Mountains File:Serra de Três Pontas.JPG, View of the mountain from afar File:Serra de Três Pontas vista da cidade.JPG, The mountain seen from the urban area

References

External links