Mountain Ranges, Deserts and Landforms of Bolivia

Geography

South America occupies the southern portion of the Americas. The continent is generally delimited on the northwest by the Darién watershed along the Colombia–Panama border, although some may consider the border instead to be the Panama Canal. Geopolitically and geographically, all of Panama – including the segment east of the Panama Canal in the isthmus – is typically included in North America alone and among the countries of Central America. Almost all of mainland South America sits on the South American Plate.

History

South America is thought to have been first inhabited by humans when people were crossing the Bering Land Bridge (now the Bering Strait) at least 15,000 years ago from the territory that is present-day Russia. They migrated south through North America, and eventually reached South America through the Isthmus of Panama.

Amongst the oldest evidence for human presence in South America is the Monte Verde II site in Chile, suggested to date to around 14,500 years ago. From around 13,000 years ago, the Fishtail projectile point style became widespread across South America, with its disappearance around 11,000 years ago coincident with the disappearance of South America's megafauna.

Economy

Since 1930, the continent has experienced growth and diversification in most economic sectors. Most agricultural and livestock products are destined for the domestic market and local consumption. However, the export of agricultural products is essential for the balance of trade in most countries.

The main agrarian crops are export crops, such as soy and wheat. The production of staple foods such as vegetables, corn or beans is large, but focused on domestic consumption. Livestock raising for meat exports is significant in Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Colombia. In tropical regions the most important crops are coffee, cocoa and bananas, mainly in Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador.

Geography

The Altiplano is an area of inland drainage (endorheism) lying in the central Andes, occupying parts of northern Chile, western Bolivia, southern Peru, and northwest Argentina. Its elevation averages about 3,750 meters (12,300 feet), slightly less than that of the Tibetan Plateau. Unlike conditions in Tibet, the Altiplano is dominated by massive active volcanoes of the Central Volcanic Zone to the west, such as Ampato (6288 m), Tutupaca (5,816 m), Parinacota (6348 m), Guallatiri (6071 m), Paruma (5,728 m), Uturunku (6,008 m), and Licancabur (5,916 m), and the Cordillera Real in the northeast with Illampu (6,368 m), Huayna Potosí (6,088 m), Janq'u Uma (6,427 m) and Illimani (6,438 m).

Geology

Existence of weaknesses in the Earth's crust prior to tectonic shortening: Such weaknesses would cause the partition of tectonic deformation and uplift into the eastern and western cordillera, leaving the necessary space for the formation of the altiplano basin.

Magmatic processes rooted in the asthenosphere might have contributed to uplift of the plateau.

Climate has controlled the spatial distribution of erosion and sediment deposition, controlling the lubrication along the subducting Nazca Plate, hence influencing the transmission of tectonic forces into South America.

Climate

Due to its average elevation exceeding 3,800 meters above sea level, the climate of the Altiplano is cold and dry, characterized by marked daily temperature fluctuations; the region is sometimes used to identify the altitude zone and the type of climate that prevails within it is colder than that of the tierra fría, but not as cold as that of the tierra helada. Scientists classify the latter as commencing at an elevation around 4,500 meters (or about 15,000 feet). Alternate names used in place of altiplano in this context include puna and páramos.

History

During the Inca Empire, the term yunga referred to both the western and eastern slopes of the Andes and their inhabitants. In the Spanish colonial era, it became primarily associated with the western foothills near the desert coast and the local Indians. Today, yunga can refer to the lower slopes on both sides of the Andes, though yungas mostly denotes the eastern foothills between the Andes and the Amazon basin, with both having mostly lost their ethnic associations.

Geography and geology

The Pantanal covers about 140,000–160,000 km2 (54,000–62,000 sq mi) of gently sloped basin that receives runoff from the upland areas (the Planalto highlands) and slowly releases the water through the Paraguay River and tributaries. The formation is a result of the large, concave, pre-Andean depression of the Earth's crust, related to the Andean orogeny of the Tertiary. It constitutes an enormous internal river delta, in which several rivers flowing from the surrounding plateau merge, depositing their sediments and erosion residues, which have been filling the large depression area of the Pantanal. This area is also one of the distinct physiographic provinces of the larger Parana-Paraguay Plain area, which encompasses a total of 1.5×10^6 km2 (580,000 sq mi).

Formation, geology, and climate

The Salar de Uyuni is part of the Altiplano of Bolivia in South America. The Altiplano is a high plateau, which was formed during the uplift of the Andes mountains. The plateau includes fresh and saltwater lakes as well as salt flats and is endorheic.

The geological history of the Salar is associated with a sequential transformation between several vast lakes. Some 30,000 to 42,000 years ago, the area was part of a giant prehistoric lake, Lake Minchin. Its age was estimated by radiocarbon dating shells from outcropping sediments and carbonate reefs and varies between reported studies.

Tourism

Salar de Uyuni is a popular tourist destination, and consequently, a number of hotels have been built in the area. Due to a lack of conventional construction materials, many of them are almost entirely (walls, roof, furniture) built with salt blocks cut from the Salar. The first such hotel, named Palacio de Sal, was erected in 1993–1995 in the middle of the salt flat, and soon became a popular tourist destination. However, its location in the center of a desert caused sanitation problems, as most waste had to be collected manually. Mismanagement caused serious environmental pollution, and the hotel had to be dismantled in 2002.

at the eastern edge of Salar de Uyuni, 25 km away from the town of Uyuni. The sanitary system has been restructured to comply with the government regulations.