How did the Andres Mountains affect settlement along the western coast of South America? All along the the west and south coasts of South America the Andes are a barrier to movement in interior. As a result more settlement in South America has occurred along the eastern and northern coasts.
How do the Andes mountains affect the geography of South America?
All along the the west and south coasts of South America, the Andes are a barrier to movement in interior. As a result, more settlement in South America has occurred along the eastern and northern coasts. How are the landforms of the region both an advantage and disadvantage?
How did the Andres Mountains affect settlement along the western coast?
How did the Andres Mountains affect settlement along the western coast of South America? All along the the west and south coasts of South America, the Andes are a barrier to movement in interior. As a result, more settlement in South America has occurred along the eastern and northern coasts.
Where has there been more settlement in South America?
As a result, more settlement in South America has occurred along the eastern and northern coasts. How are the landforms of the region both an advantage and disadvantage?
What is another name for the Andes Mountains?
See Article History. Alternative Titles: Cordillera de los Andes, Los Andes, The Andes. Andes Mountains, also called the Andes, Spanish Cordillera de los Andes or Los Andes, mountain system of South America and one of the great natural features of the Earth.
How did the Andes mountains affect settlement?
a) It acted as a barrier and hindered settlements to occur on the west coast, so most of the settlements occurred on the northern and eastern coasts. b) The mountains provide protection for settlements but made it hard to cross the continents; the rivers also made traveling difficult.
What mountain range impacts settlement the most in South America?
The Andes Mountains are a series of extremely high plateaus surmounted by even higher peaks that form an unbroken rampart over a distance of some 5,500 miles (8,900 kilometres)—from the southern tip of South America to the continent's northernmost coast on the Caribbean.
Why is the Andes mountains a challenging place to live?
Scarce oxygen, cold temperatures, and intense ultraviolet radiation make the Andes a tough place to live.
How were the Andes mountains in South America formed?
The Andes were formed by tectonic activity whereby earth is uplifted as one plate (oceanic crust) subducts under another plate (continental crust). To get such a high mountain chain in a subduction zone setting is unusual which adds to the importance of trying to figure out when and how it happened.
Why is the Andes mountains important?
The Andes play a vital part in national economies, accounting for a significant proportion of the region's GDP, providing large agricultural areas, mineral resources, and water for agriculture, hydroelectricity (Figure 1), domestic use, and some of the largest business centres in South America.
What are the three most important geographical features of South America?
South America can be divided into three physical regions: mountains and highlands, river basins, and coastal plains.
How do the Andes affect the climate of South America?
The Andes have a direct mechanical influence on the climatology of South America by forcing orographic precipitation along the eastern flanks of the Andes, and blocking westerly flow from the Pacific.
How was the environment of the Andes mountains difficult?
The water supply is inadequate, and a large part of the plateau region is dry or receives little and irregular seasonal rainfall. Temperatures of the high plains are cold, and crops are subject to freezing.
How are Andes adapted to their environment?
In the Andes people have also adapted their daily routine to their climate. People wear light clothes in the Tierra Caliente, while people in higher zones wear thicker clothes. People have also have adapted their bodies, too. In the Tierra Fria people have lungs that are larger due to the thin air.
Where in South America are the Andes mountains?
The mountain range spans seven countries — Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina — and can be found between 10 degrees north and 57 degrees south latitudes and 70 degrees to 80 degrees west longitude.
What type of fault is the Andes mountains?
The El Tigre Fault is a 120 km long, roughly north-south trending, major strike-slip fault located in the Western Precordillera in Argentina. The Precordillera lies just to the east of the Andes mountain range in South America.
When did the Andes mountains begin to form?
The prevailing view is that the Andes became a mountain range between ten to six million years ago when a huge volume of rock dropped off the base of Earth's crust in response to over-thickening of the crust in this region.
What effect does altitude have on the climates of the Andean countries of South America?
The ranging mountains, plains, and other landforms in the Andean region and Midlatitude countries of South America mean that the regions climate is extremely diverse. What is the relationship between altitude and climate in the Andes? The higher the altitude the cooler the temperature. Also, the oxygen is thin.
Why are there mountains along the west coast of South America?
The west coast of South America is a subduction zone, which means that the oceanic plate, called the Nazca plate, is being forced beneath the adjacent continental plate. The Andes mountains were thrust upwards by this motion, and can still be considered "under construction" by the earth's crust.
Where are earthquakes most prominent in Latin America which tectonic plates?
In South America, most of the seismicity is located on the western coast due to large subduction zones along Colombia, Ecuador, Perú, and Chile, whereas the eastern part of the continent that covers Brazil and part of Argentina is seismically stable with very low to moderate seismicity.
What use has been made of the wide plains in South America?
South America has wide plains that offer rich soil for growing crops and grasses for grazing livestock.