The Andes Mountains

When I chose my location, I assumed that the Andes Mountains were located in Peru, boy was I off. The Andes Mountains are considered the longest mountain range in the world. It spans 4500 miles across seven different countries, including, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. Besides the Himalayas, the Andes Mountains are one of the tallest mountains in the world. The average elevation is 13,000 feet high and the tallest peak, Mount Aconcagua in Argentina is 22,841 feet high. Due to the difference in elevations and locations, there are various ranges of climate and weather in the Andes Mountains.

Climate and Weather

There is very diverse weather that surrounds the Andes Mountains and the countries that surround them, for example, the Northern side of Chile is extremely dry, while the Southern side of Chile is very humid. Whereas, Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador experience humid, tropical climates. As a result, Peru and Ecuador have wet and dry, tropical climates, which brings rainfall in the summer and dry winters. Colombia is an especially tropical, wet location with constant rainfall (“The Andes Mountains Biomes”). The warm, moist air rises vertically and adiabatically, which then condenses forming cumulonimbus and cumulus clouds, allowing for that daily rainfall.

Rain Shadow

Rain shadow between Chile and Argentina

The Andes Mountains are so high, that they change the precipitation between Southern Chile and Argentina. The moist air from the Pacific Ocean rises up the mountain and condenses as the air cools, creating rain. The rain falls windward towards Chile. The air flow travels down the leeward side of the mountains, becoming dry as water in the atmosphere evaporates, which creates a rain shadow over Argentina, making it much drier than Chile.

The Andes Mountains are truly unique, not only in size and greatness and the varying weather and climate, but also for being home to tropical glaciers, including the largest ice cap in the world. The Quelccaya ice cap is located in Peru, which is a wonder of nature given the climate that surrounds the glacier. Perhaps something to explore next!



Work Cited

http://www.livescience.com/27897-andes-mountains.html

http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view.php?id=57447

http://andesbiome.weebly.com/factors.html