The uplifting of the Andes Mountains formed an unusual ecosystem on the eastern slope of the range, where the headwaters of the Amazon River system lie. The east-west winds that blow over South America pick up moisture from the humid Amazon basin. When moisture-laden air reaches the Andes, the irregular topography creates several zones of extremely high precipitation. One is in the piedmont and foothills of Ecuador, one of the wettest places in the Amazon watershed thanks to a year-round trade wind flow. Others are the upper part of the Madre de Dios watershed in Peru, including the area around Quincemil, and Bolivia’s tropical Chapare region.
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The uplift of the Andes mountains over millions of years has been due to a combination of plate ... Read more
The Andes are topped by the largest concentration of ice anywhere in the Earth’s tropics (the belt ... Read more
Along the Peruvian coast is a string of rocky islands and peninsulas that are home ... Read more
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