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The Andes Portal
The Andes (/ˈændiːz/ AN-deez), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (Spanish: Cordillera de los Andes; Quechua: Anti) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is 8,900 km (5,530 mi) long and 200 to 700 km (124 to 435 mi) wide (widest between 18°S and 20°S latitude) and has an average height of about 4,000 m (13,123 ft). The Andes extend from north to south through seven South American countries: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina.
Along their length, the Andes are split into several ranges, separated by intermediate depressions. The Andes are the location of several high plateaus—some of which host major cities such as Quito, Bogotá, Cali, Arequipa, Medellín, Bucaramanga, Sucre, Mérida, El Alto and La Paz. The Altiplano Plateau is the world's second-highest after the Tibetan Plateau. These ranges are in turn grouped into three major divisions based on climate: the Tropical Andes, the Dry Andes, and the Wet Andes.
The Andes Mountains are the highest mountain range outside Asia. The highest mountain outside Asia, Argentina's Aconcagua, rises to an elevation of about 6,961 m (22,838 ft) above sea level. The peak of Chimborazo in the Ecuadorian Andes is farther from the Earth's center than any other location on the Earth's surface, due to the equatorial bulge resulting from the Earth's rotation. The world's highest volcanoes are in the Andes, including Ojos del Salado on the Chile-Argentina border, which rises to 6,893 m (22,615 ft). (Full article...)
Selected articles
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Image 1
The Sierra Nevada National Park (SNNP) is a National Park of Venezuela located between the states of Mérida and Barinas in western Venezuela. It was created on May 2, 1952, by decree of President Germán Suárez Flamerich, in order to protect the Sierra Nevada de Mérida in the Andes.
It was the second national park decreed, after Henri Pittier National Park, which became the first Venezuelan national park 15 years earlier. (Full article...) -
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Maipo is a stratovolcano in the Andes, lying on the border between Argentina and Chile. It is located 90 km (56 mi) south of Tupungato and about 100 km (62 mi) southeast of Santiago. It has a symmetrical, conical volcanic shape, and is among the southernmost 5,000 metre peaks in the Andes.
Maipo is located within the Diamante caldera, a feature measuring 15 km by 20 km that is about half a million years old. It rises about 1,900 m (6,230 ft) above the floor of the caldera. Immediately to the east of the peak, on the eastern side of the caldera floor, is Laguna del Diamante, a lake that formed when lava flows blocked drainage channels from the caldera in 1826. The Diamante Caldera erupted 450 cubic kilometers (108 cu mi) of tephra, 450 ka. (Full article...) -
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Licancabur (Spanish pronunciation: [likaŋkaˈβuɾ]) is a stratovolcano on the border between Bolivia and Chile, south of the Sairecabur volcano and west of Juriques. Part of the Andean Central Volcanic Zone, it has a prominent, 5,916-metre (19,409 ft)-high cone. A 400–500-metre (1,300–1,600 ft) summit crater containing Licancabur Lake, a crater lake which is among the highest lakes in the world, caps the volcano. There are no glaciers owing to the arid climate. Numerous animal species and plants live on the mountain.
Licancabur formed atop of Pleistocene ignimbrites and has been active during the Holocene, after the ice ages. Three stages of lava flows emanate from the edifice and have a young appearance. Although no historic eruptions of the volcano are known, lava flows extending into Laguna Verde have been dated to 13,240 ± 100 BP and there may be residual heat in the mountain. The volcano has primarily erupted andesite, with small amounts of dacite and basaltic andesite. (Full article...) -
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Puracé is an andesitic stratovolcano located in the Puracé National Natural Park in the Cauca Department, Colombia. It is part of the North Volcanic Zone of the Andean Volcanic Belt. The volcano is located at the intersection of the Coconucos and Morras Faults.
It is one of the most active volcanoes in Colombia. Large explosive eruptions occurred in 1849, 1869, 1885, 1949, 1950, 1956, and 1957. There were about a dozen eruptions in the 20th century, the most recent being in 1977. On this occasion, volcanic ash was deposited 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) away. Fumaroles were seen near the summit in 1990, and hot springs emerged from some of the lower slopes. (Full article...) -
Image 5Paruma is a stratovolcano that lies on the border of Bolivia and Chile. It is part of a ridge that contains several stratovolcanos. Paruma lies at the eastern end of the ridge, with Olca to its west. The older volcano Paruma lies to east of Paruma. Paruma has clearly been active during the Holocene, with many morphologically young lava flows on its flanks. It also has persistent fumaroles. One lava flow in particular extends for 7 kilometres to the south-east of the peak. Historical activity along the ridge has been confined to one eruption from 1865 to 1867, the character of which is not precisely known. (Full article...)
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Image 6Touching the Void is a 1988 book by Joe Simpson, recounting his and Simon Yates's near fatal descent after climbing the 6,344-metre (20,814 ft) peak Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes. Approximately 15% of the book is written by Yates. It has sold over a million copies and has been translated into over 20 languages. (Full article...)
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Image 7
The Wet Andes (Spanish: Andes húmedos) is a climatic and glaciological subregion of the Andes. Together with the Dry Andes it is one of the two subregions of the Argentine and Chilean Andes. The Wet Andes runs from a latitude of 35°S to Cape Horn at 56°S. According to Luis Lliboutry the Wet Andes can be classified after the absence of penitentes. In Argentina well developed penitentes are found as south as on Lanín Volcano (40°S). Another difference is that the Wet Andes is largely devoid of rock glaciers. The glaciers of the Wet Andes have a far more stable line of equilibrium than those of the Dry Andes due to summer precipitations, low thermal oscillations and an overall high moisture. (Full article...) -
Image 8
Huaytapallana (possibly from in the Quechua spelling Waytapallana; wayta wild flower, a little bunch of flowers, pallay to collect, pallana an instrument to collect fruit / collectable, Waytapallana "a place where you collect wild flowers",) or Lasuntay is the highest peak in the Huaytapallana mountain range in the Andes of Peru. Its summit reaches about 5,557 m (18,232 ft) above sea level. The mountain is situated in the Junín Region, Huancayo Province, in the districts of Huancayo and Pariahuanca. (Full article...) -
Image 9
Cerro Bayo is a complex volcano on the northern part border between Argentina and Chile. It consists of four overlapping stratovolcanoes along a north–south line. The main volcano face is located on the Argentine side, thought the summit of the complex is just west of the border, in Chile. The volcano is about 800,000 years old, but it is associated with ongoing ground uplift encompassing also the more northerly Lastarria and Cordón del Azufre volcanoes. The 5,401-metre (17,720 ft) high summit is the source of two viscous dacitic lava flows with prominent levees that traveled to the north.
Elemental sulfur can be found at Bayo, both in the form of high-grade massive deposits and as extinct fumarole chimneys. The volcano formed in three separate phases that produced lava flows. One is dated to 1.6±0.4 million years ago. The volcano can bear snow in winter. The youngest dated rocks are about 23,000 years old; in 2007 a steam eruption were observed by researchers investigating nearby salt pans such as Salar Ignorado. (Full article...) -
Image 10Yerupaja Chico is a mountain in Peru.
Yerupaja Chicho rises 6,121 metres (20,082 ft) and neighboring Yerupaja rises 6,617 metres (21,709 ft). The names' literal translations are yerupaja – smaller and yerupaja – larger. They are two peaks in the Peruvian Andes. They can be viewed from above Laguna Solteracocha on the way up to Punta Sambuya on trekking trails through the Huayhuash. Chico is claimed to be a technically more difficult project for mountain climbers, although it is approximately 600 metres lower. (Full article...) -
Image 12Janq'u Uma (Aymara janq'u white, uma water, "white water", also spelled Ccancouma, Janjouma) is a mountain in the north of the Apolobamba mountain range in the Andes of Peru, about 4,900 metres (16,076 ft) high. It is located in the Puno Region, Sandia Province, Cuyocuyo District. Janq'u Uma lies northwest of the mountain Wilaquta, northeast of Qurwari and southwest of Utkhuqaqa. Two little streams named Janq'u Uma (Janjouma) and Qullqipirwa (Jolljepirhua) originate west and east of the mountain. They flow to the river Lawa Lawani which runs to the north. It belongs to the watershed of the Inambari River. (Full article...)
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Image 13
Monte Fitz Roy (also known as Cerro Chaltén, Cerro Fitz Roy, or simply Mount Fitz Roy) is a mountain in Patagonia, on the border between Argentina and Chile. It is located in the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, near El Chaltén village and Viedma Lake. It was first climbed in 1952 by French alpinists Lionel Terray and Guido Magnone. (Full article...) -
Image 14
Socompa is a large stratovolcano at the border of Argentina and Chile with an elevation of 6,051 metres (19,852 ft) metres. Part of the Chilean and Argentine Andean Volcanic Belt (AVB), it is within the Central Volcanic Zone, one of the various segments of the AVB. This part of the Andean volcanic belt begins in Peru and runs first through Bolivia and Chile, and then through Argentina and Chile, and contains about 44 active volcanoes. Socompa lies close to the pass of the same name, where the Salta-Antofagasta railway crosses the border.
Socompa is known for its large debris avalanche, which was formed 7,200 years ago when most of the northwestern slope collapsed and slid down, forming an extensive deposit. It was at first considered to be either a moraine or a nuee ardende deposit, until the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens prompted awareness of the instability of volcanic edifices and the existence of large scale collapses on them. The Socompa collapse is among the largest known with a volume of 19.2 cubic kilometres (4.6 cu mi) and covers a surface area of 490 square kilometres (190 sq mi), and its features are well preserved by the arid climate. Notable are the large toreva blocks which were left behind within the collapse crater. After the landslide, the volcano was rebuilt by the effusion of lava flows and much of the scar is now filled in. (Full article...) -
Image 15
The royal cinclodes (Cinclodes aricomae) is a Critically Endangered passerine bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Bolivia and Peru. (Full article...) -
Image 16
Llullaillaco (Spanish pronunciation: [ʎuʎajˈʎako]) is a dormant stratovolcano on the border between Argentina (Salta Province) and Chile (Antofagasta Region). It lies in the Puna de Atacama, a region of tall volcanic peaks on a high plateau close to the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places in the world. Its maximum elevation is most commonly given as 6723 m, making it the second- or third-highest volcano in the world. Despite its height, it is not clear whether the volcano has any glaciers or merely patches of perennial snow and ice. Between 3700 m and 5000 m elevation there is a sparse plant cover, while at lower altitudes the climate is too dry for plants to grow. A species of mouse on Llullaillaco is the highest-living known vertebrate species.
The volcano formed during the Pleistocene in two stages, named Llullaillaco I and Llullaillaco II. The oldest rocks are about 1.5 million years old. About 150,000 years ago, the volcano's southeastern flank collapsed, generating a debris avalanche that reached as far as 25 km from the summit. During the last stage, three conspicuous lava flows were emplaced on the summit. The youngest dated rocks are 930 ± 140 years old, but there are reports of activity from the 19th century. (Full article...) -
Image 17
Tata Sabaya is a 5,430-metre (17,810 ft) high volcano in Bolivia. It is part of the Central Volcanic Zone, one of several volcanic belts in the Andes which are separated by gaps without volcanic activity. This section of the Andes was volcanically active since the Jurassic, with an episode of strong ignimbritic volcanism occurring during the Miocene. Tata Sabaya lies in a thinly populated region north of the Salar de Coipasa salt pan.
Volcanic activity at Tata Sabaya and elsewhere in the Central Volcanic Zone is the consequence of the subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath the South America Plate. The volcano has developed along a lineament that separates older crust north of the lineament from younger crust in the south, and the edifice has been formed by andesitic rocks. (Full article...) -
Image 18
Telmatobius culeus, commonly known as the Titicaca water frog or Lake Titicaca frog, is a medium-large to very large and endangered species of frog in the family Telmatobiidae. It is entirely aquatic and only found in the Lake Titicaca basin, including rivers that flow into it and smaller connected lakes like Arapa, Lagunillas and Saracocha, in the Andean highlands of Bolivia and Peru. In reference to its excessive amounts of skin, it has jokingly been referred to as the Titicaca scrotum (water) frog.
It is closely related to the more widespread and semiaquatic marbled water frog (T. marmoratus), which also occurs in shallow, coastal parts of Lake Titicaca, but lacks the excessive skin and it is generally smaller (although overlapping in size with some forms of the Titicaca water frog). (Full article...) -
Image 19
Nevado del Ruiz (Spanish pronunciation: [neβaðo ðel ˈrwis]), also known as La Mesa de Herveo (English: Mesa of Herveo, the name of the nearby town) is a volcano on the border of the departments of Caldas and Tolima in Colombia, about 129 km (80 mi) west of the capital city Bogotá. It is a stratovolcano composed of many layers of lava alternating with hardened volcanic ash and other pyroclastic rocks. Volcanic activity at Nevado del Ruiz began about two million years ago, during the Early Pleistocene or Late Pliocene, with three major eruptive periods. The current volcanic cone formed during the present eruptive period, which began 150,000 years ago.
The volcano usually generates Vulcanian to Plinian eruptions, which produce swift-moving currents of hot gas and rock called pyroclastic flows. These eruptions often cause massive lahars (mud and debris flows), which pose a threat to human life and the environment. The impact of such an eruption is increased as the hot gas and lava melt the mountain's snowcap, adding large quantities of water to the flow. On November 13, 1985, a small eruption produced an enormous lahar that buried and destroyed the town of Armero in Tolima, causing an estimated 25,000 deaths. This event later became known as the Armero tragedy—the deadliest lahar in recorded history. Similar but less deadly incidents occurred in 1595 and 1845, consisting of a small explosive eruption followed by a large lahar. (Full article...) -
Image 20
Nevado Ojos del Salado is a dormant complex volcano in the Andes on the Argentina–Chile border. It is the highest volcano on Earth and the highest peak in Chile. The upper reaches of Ojos del Salado consist of several overlapping lava domes, lava flows and volcanic craters, with sparse ice cover. The complex extends over an area of 70–160 square kilometres (27–62 sq mi) and its highest summit reaches an altitude of 6,893 metres (22,615 ft) above sea level. Numerous other volcanoes rise around Ojos del Salado.
Being close to the Arid Diagonal of South America, the mountain has extremely dry conditions, which prevent the formation of substantial glaciers and a permanent snow cover. Despite the arid climate, there is a permanent crater lake about 100 m (330 ft) in diameter at an elevation of 6,480 metres (21,260 ft)-6,500 metres (21,300 ft) within the summit crater and east of the main summit. This is the highest lake of any kind in the world. Owing to its altitude and the desiccated climate, the mountain lacks vegetation. (Full article...) -
Image 21
Acotango is the central and highest of a group of stratovolcanoes straddling the border of Bolivia and Chile. It is 6,052 metres (19,856 ft) high. The group is known as Kimsa Chata and consists of three mountains: Acotango, Umurata (5,730 metres (18,799 ft)) north of it and Capurata (5,990 metres (19,652 ft)) south of it.
The group lies along a north–south alignment. The Acotango volcano is heavily eroded, but a lava flow on its northern flank is morphologically young, suggesting Acotango was active in the Holocene. Later research has suggested that lava flow may be of Pleistocene age. Argon-argon dating has yielded ages of 192,000±8,000 and 241,000±27,000 years on dacites from Acotango. Glacial activity has exposed parts of the inner volcano, which is hydrothermally altered. Glacial moraines lie at an altitude of 4,200 metres (13,800 ft) but a present ice cap is only found past 6,000 metres (20,000 ft) of altitude. (Full article...) -
Image 22
Cotopaxi (Spanish pronunciation: [kotoˈpaksi]) is an active stratovolcano in the Andes Mountains, located near Latacunga city of Cotopaxi Province, about 50 km (31 mi) south of Quito, and 31 km (19 mi) northeast of the city of Latacunga, Ecuador. It is the second highest summit in Ecuador, reaching a height of 5,897 m (19,347 ft). Cotopaxi is among the highest active volcanoes in the world.
Cotopaxi is known to have erupted 87 times, resulting in the creation of numerous valleys formed by lahars (mudflows) around the volcano. An ongoing eruption began on 21 October 2022. (Full article...) -
Image 23
Monte San Valentin, also known as Monte San Clemente, is the highest mountain in Chilean Patagonia and the highest mountain south of 37°S outside Antarctica. It stands at the north end of the North Patagonian Icefield.
Monte San Valentin can be climbed from Lago Leones, to the south east, or from Laguna San Rafael, to the west. The ascent is long and is particularly subject to bad weather. (Full article...) -
Image 24
Cerro Escorial is a stratovolcano at the border of Argentina and Chile. It is part of the Corrida de Cori volcanic group and its youngest member. A well-preserved 1-kilometre-wide (0.6 mi) crater forms its summit area. Lava flows are found on the Chilean and smaller ones on the Argentinian side, the former reaching as far as 3–4 kilometres (1.9–2.5 mi) from the volcano. One of these is dated 342,000 years ago by argon-argon dating.
Off the western coast of South America, the Nazca Plate subducts beneath the South America Plate. This process has given rise to the Andes mountain chain and the Altiplano-Puna high plateau, which formed through shortening of the crust that lasted until 1 million years ago. Cerro Escorial rises from the Puna, which is dissected at Cerro Escorial by the Archibarca lineament; it is a strike-slip fault that has facilitated the ascent of magma. (Full article...) -
Image 25
The Andean Volcanic Belt is a major volcanic belt along the Andean cordillera in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. It is formed as a result of subduction of the Nazca Plate and Antarctic Plate underneath the South American Plate. The belt is subdivided into four main volcanic zones which are separated by volcanic gaps. The volcanoes of the belt are diverse in terms of activity style, products, and morphology. While some differences can be explained by which volcanic zone a volcano belongs to, there are significant differences within volcanic zones and even between neighboring volcanoes. Despite being a type location for calc-alkalic and subduction volcanism, the Andean Volcanic Belt has a broad range of volcano-tectonic settings, as it has rift systems and extensional zones, transpressional faults, subduction of mid-ocean ridges and seamount chains as well as a large range of crustal thicknesses and magma ascent paths and different amounts of crustal assimilations.
Romeral in Colombia is the northernmost active member of the Andean Volcanic Belt. South of latitude 49° S within the Austral Volcanic Zone volcanic activity decreases with the southernmost volcano Fueguino in Tierra del Fuego archipelago. (Full article...)
Did you know...
- ... that the 1930s Polish Andean expeditions have been credited with several first ascents and the tracing of a new route to the summit of Aconcagua, the Andes' highest peak?
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General images
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Image 1A male Andean cock-of-the-rock, a species found in humid Andean forests and the national bird of Peru (from Andes)
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Image 2Paleogeography of the Late Cretaceous South America. Areas subject to the Andean orogeny are shown in light grey while the stable cratons are shown as grey squares. The sedimentary formations of Los Alamitos and La Colonia that formed in the Late Cretaceous are indicated. (from Andean orogeny)
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Image 4Peruvian farmers sowing maize and beans (from Andes)
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Image 8Simplified sketch of the present-situation along most of the Andes (from Andean orogeny)
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Image 9Mashua tubers (from Andean agriculture)
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Image 10Pico Humboldt at sunset (from Andes)
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Image 11Syncline next to Nordenskjöld Lake in Torres del Paine National Park. The syncline formed during the Andean orogeny. (from Andean orogeny)
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Image 12Map of a north-south sea-parallel pattern of rock ages in western Colombia. This pattern is a result of the Andean orogeny. (from Andean orogeny)
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Image 13Topographic map of the Andes by the NASA. The southern and northern ends of the Andes are not shown. The Bolivian Orocline is visible as a bend in the coastline and the Andes lower half of the map. (from Andean orogeny)
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Image 16Irrigating land in the Peruvian Andes (from Andes)
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Image 19The seaward tilting of the sedimentary strata of Salto del Fraile Formation in Peru was caused by the Andean orogeny. (from Andean orogeny)
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Image 22Ulluco: Common crop of the Andean region (from Andean agriculture)
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Image 23Central Andes (from Andes)
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Image 24Aerial view of Valle Carbajal in the Tierra del Fuego. The Andes range is about 200 km (124 mi) wide throughout its length, except in the Bolivian flexure where it is about 640 kilometres (398 mi) wide. (from Andes)
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Image 28Pacha Mama Ceremony (from Andean agriculture)
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Image 33Bolivian Andes (from Andes)
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