Longest mountain chain in the world 4,500 miles in length Runs north to south along the west coast of South America Found in Venezuela, Columbia,

Andes Mountains

• Longest mountain chain in the world 4,500 miles in length Runs north to south

along the west coast of South America

• Found in Venezuela, Columbia, Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina

• Mount Aconcagua is the highest peak at 22,835 feet

Andes Mountains in Argentina

Mount AconcaguaHighest peak in the Western Hemisphere

Andes Mountains in Peru

Andes Mountains in Chile

Lake Titicaca

• Located on the border of Peru and Bolivia

• Highest navigable lake in the world (12,500 ft. above sea level)

• Sacred to the Incas

• Floating islands made of totora reeds

A Uros man on a floating island of totora reeds

ATACAMA

DESERT

Atacama Desert

• 600 mile strip of land on the Pacific coast of South America and west of the Andes Mountains

• The driest place in the world besides Antarctica

• Places in the Atacama Desert have never recorded rainfall

• Contains huge deposits of copper and sodium nitrate

A salt lake in the Atacama Desert

Angel Falls

Angel Falls• Highest waterfall in

the world (3,212 feet)• No major water

source; mainly rainfall• An American pilot

named Jimmy Angel found it

• has a clear drop of 2,647 feet which is so far that the water vaporizes with the wind and becomes mist well before reaching the ground

The Amazon Rainforest• Also known as Amazonia• The world’s largest rainforest• Receives 9 feet of rainfall per year• Over 20% of the earth’s oxygen is produced

by the Amazon rainforest• Scientists believe half of the world’s

species are found here• Over 20% of the Amazon Rainforest has

been destroyed– Land has been cleared for cattle ranches,

mining, logging, and subsistence farming

Amazon

River

The Amazon River• Second longest river in the world• Life force of the rainforest• Begins in the Peruvian Andes and flows east– 4,080 miles in length

• 1,100 tributaries feed into the Amazon River• Some areas of the river are mile wide while

others are 35 miles wide• Drainage basin covers 2, 722,000 square miles – Peru , Ecuador, Bolivia, Columbia, Venezuela,

Guyana, French Guiana, Suriname, and Brazil• 28,000,000,000 gallons of water flow into the

Atlantic every minute

Pampas

• Flat, fertile plains that cover 300,000 square miles Extends from the

Atlantic Ocean to the Andes

Located in Argentina and Uruguay

• Means plains without trees

• Ideal for growing wheat and cattle ranching

A modern gaucho, similar to North America’s cowboy, drives cattle across the Pampas.

SIERRA MADRE MOUNTAINS

The Sierra Madres•Mountain system of Mexico that ranges in elevation (6,000-12,000 feet)

•Split into three mountain ranges

(Sierra Madre Occidental (to the west)

Sierra Madre Oriental (to the east)

Sierra Madre del Sur to the south)

•Rich in mineral resources, especially silver

Barranca del Cobre, or Copper Canyon, in the western Sierra Madre is 299 feet deeper than the

Grand Canyon in the United States.

Pico de Orizaba- is a dormant volcano and Mexico’s highest peak at 18, 898 feet.