Movement of tectonic plates over time Tectonic plates, American landform and topography

Movement of tectonic plates over timeTectonic plates, American landform and topography

Eight big platesMajor plates• Pacific• Euro Asian• Antarctic• African• North American• South American• Indo Australian• Nazca

Minor plates• Caribbean• Arabian

American landform and topography

• The movements of earth masses have formed the American landform and its characteristic topography.

• http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/SouthAmerica-georegion.html

Mountains and Highlands

• The Andes Mountains- The Andes are a part of the mountain range that runs through a portion of North, Central and South America. United States- The Rocky Mountains Central America- The Sierra Madre South America- the Andes

There are many volcanic peaks throughout the Andes.

Andes Characteristics• The Andean range is composed of two great

principal chains

• Many volcanoes

• The longest mountain range in the world, nearly 5,000 mile long.

• Creates a barrier between the coastal cities on the west coast and the interior of the continent.

Highlands

• The other mountainous regions in Latin America include the following:

• The Guiana Highlands

• The Brazilian Highlands

The Plains of Latin America There are vast plains regions in Latin America well suited for agriculture

Llanos:

Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela

Pampas:

Argentina and Uruguay

Amazon River Basin:

Brazil

The Pampas: Argentina

The Amazon River and Other Major River Systems

• South America has three major River Systems:

Amazon River:

Brazil

Orinoco River:

Venezuela and Colombia

Paraná River:

Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina

The Mighty Amazon• Amazon : Flows 4,000 miles from west to east and empties into the

Atlantic Ocean. Source is the Andes Mountains close to the Pacific Ocean.

The Orinoco River• The Orinoco River flows mainly through Venezuela and Colombia.

It creates part of the border between the two countries.

The Paraná River• The Paraná river begins in the Brazilian

Highlands and flows southward through Paraguay and Argentina. It meets with several other rivers to create the Rio de la Plata a very important estuary in South America.

This is the product of:

• Endogenous processes The energy stored inside the Earth causes earthquakes,

eruptions and the rise of mountains.

• Exogenous processes They are influenced by the energy received from the Sun and

the action temperature, wind and water that produce erosion

• Both have created not only the older, smaller ranges of the East, but also the younger, more elevated ranges of the west

Landforms in Ecuador

Activity: • State four types

of landforms found in Ecuador.• The Andes• The amazon

river basin• Galápagos

islands• Llanos

• Describe the origin of each

Geography of Latin America• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doqlR4eqNtM