Everything about Tepuy totally explained
A
Tepui (or
Tepuy) is a table-top mountain (
mesa) found only in the
Guayana highlands of
South America, especially in
Venezuela. The word tepui means "house of the gods" in the native tongue of the
Pemon, the
indigenous people who inhabit the
Gran Sabana. Tepuis tend to be found as isolated entities rather than in connected ranges, which makes them the host of a unique array of
endemic plant and animal species. Some of the most outstanding tepuis are
Autana,
Auyantepui and
Mount Roraima (the highest and most famous one, on the border tripoint of
Venezuela,
Brazil and
Guyana). They are typically composed of sheer blocks of
Precambrian sandstone or
quartzite rocks rising abruptly from the jungle, giving rise to spectacular natural scenery.
Auyantepui is the source of
Angel Falls, the world's tallest
waterfall.
Morphology
These table-top mountains are the oldest exposed rock formations on the planet, the remains of a large, sandstone plateau that once covered the granite basement complex between the north border of the
Amazon Basin and the
Orinoco, between the Atlantic coast and the
Rio Negro. Throughout the course of the
history of Earth, the plateau was eroded, and the tepuis were formed from the remaining
monadnocks.
There are 115 such mesas in the
Gran Sabana in the south-east of Venezuela on the border with
Guyana and
Brazil, where the highest concentration of tepuis is found. The precipitous
mountains tower over the surrounding area by up to 1,000 meters. On the top of the mountains grow various types of forests with a wide variety of
orchids and
Bromeliads species.
Because of their great age, some tepuis exhibit surface features and subsurface
caves that are typical of more water-soluble rock such as
limestone. Caves here include the 671m deep
Abismo Guy Collet, the deepest quartzite cave in the world. Some of the mesas are pocked with giant
sinkholes up to 300 metres in diameter and with sheer walls up to 300 metres deep. These sinkholes are formed when the roofs of tunnels carved by underground rivers collapse.
Flora and Fauna
The plateau of the
mesas is completely isolated from the ground forest. The altitude causes them to have a different climate from the ground forest, and the cliffs are difficult to climb. This isolation has over millennia led to the presence of
endemic flora and fauna. The top presents cool temperatures with frequent rainfall, while the bases of the mountains have a tropical, warm and humid climate. The isolation has led to the evolution of a different world of animal and plants, cut off from the rest of the world by the imposing rock walls. Some tepui sinkholes contain species that have evolved in these "islands within islands" that are unique to that sinkhole. The tepuis are often referred to as the
Galápagos Islands of the mainland, having a large number of unique plants and animals not found anywhere else in the world. The floors of the mesas are poor in nutrients, which has led to a rich variety of
carnivorous plants. The weathered, craggy nature of the rocky ground means no layers of
humus are formed.
The tepuis, also known as 'islands above the rainforest', are a challenge for researchers, as they're home to a high number of new species which have yet to be described. A few of these mountains are cloaked by thick clouds almost the whole year round. Their surfaces could previously only be photographed by helicopter radar equipment. Humans have still yet to set foot on many of the tepuis.
Most tepuis are in the
Canaima National Park in Venezuela, which has been classified as a
World Heritage Site by
UNESCO.
Selected Tepuis
A few of the most notable of the 115 Tepuis are:
- Auyantepui is the largest of the tepuis with a surface area of 700 km². Angel Falls, the highest waterfall in the world, drops from a cleft in the summit.
- Mount Roraima, also known as Roraima Tepui. A report by the noted South American researcher Robert Schomburgk inspired the Scottish author Arthur Conan Doyle to write his novel The Lost World about the discovery of a living prehistoric world full of dinosaurs and primeval plants.
- Matawi Tepui, also known as Kukenan, because it's the source of the Kukenan River, is considered the "place of the dead" by the local Pemon Indians.
- Autana Tepui stands 1,300 m above the forest floor. A unique cave runs from one side of the mountain to the other.
- Ptaritepui's sheer rock walls are so isolated, it's believed a high number of endemic plant and animal species could be found there.
- Sarisariñama Tepui.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Tepuy'.
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