South America Continent UPSC

South America,

• Fourth largest of the world’s continents.
• It is the southern portion of the landmass generally referred to as the New World, the Western Hemisphere, or simply the Americas.
• The continent is compact and roughly triangular in shape, being broad in the north and tapering to a point—Cape Horn, Chile—in the south. South America,
  • Fourth largest of the world’s continents.
  • It is the southern portion of the landmass generally referred to as the New World, the Western Hemisphere, or simply the Americas.
  • The continentis compact and roughly triangular in shape, being broad in the north and tapering to a point—Cape Horn, Chile—in the south.
  South America is bounded by the Caribbean Sea to the northwest and north, the Atlantic Ocean to the northeast, east, and southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the west.Relatively few islands rim the continent, except in the south. These include the glaciated coastal archipelagoes of Argentina and Chile. The Falkland (Malvinas) Islands are east of southern Argentina. To the north, the West Indies stretch from Trinidad to Florida, but those islands usually are associated with North America. Of the remainder, most are small oceanic islands off the coasts of South America, including the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, in the Pacific Ocean.Ranges – South America has two major mountain systems of contrasting nature. Bordering the Pacific Ocean to the west, the geologically young cordilleras of the Andes extend along the entire continent from north to south. Stretching along the continent’s northern and eastern sides are the ancient Guiana and Brazilian highlands, which are much lower in elevation and slope gently to the west; farther south are the plateaus of Patagonia. Lowlands—the basins of the Orinoco, Amazon, and Paraguay–Paraná rivers and the plains of the Pampas—separate the highlands from one another. Taken as a whole, the relief of the continent shows a great imbalance: the major drainage divide is far to the west along the crest of the Andes. Thus, rain that falls only 100 miles (160 km) east of the Pacific may flow to the Atlantic Ocean, 2,500 miles (4,000 km) away.Andes MountainsThe ranges of the Andes Mountains, about 5,500 miles (8,900 km) long and second only to the Himalayas in average elevation, constitute a formidable and continuous barrier, with many summits exceeding 20,000 feet (6,100 metres).They travel through venezuela, equador,  Columbia, Bolivia, peru, chile and argentina.The Andes are studded with numerous volcanoes that are part of the Circum-Pacific volcanic chain, often called the Ring of Fire. Earthquakes are frequent. Almost every major city has been devastated at least once by earthquake, even along the coastal plains, where clear signs of recent vertical movement are visible.Drainage is notably affected by the physical dissymmetry of the continent. The major basins lie east of the Andes, and the main rivers flow to the Atlantic Ocean. The four largest drainage systems—the Amazon, Río de la Plata (Paraguay, Paraná, and Uruguay rivers), Orinoco, and São Francisco—cover about two-thirds of the continent.By far the largest system is formed by the Amazon River, which stretches some 4,000 miles (6,400 km) across equatorial South America. The volume of water it carries surpasses that of all other rivers, constituting one-fifth of the total flowing fresh water of the world.Lakes of South AmericaMost of South America’s important lakes are confined to the Andes or their foothills. Because of the chain’s complex topography, water has accumulated in closed basins to form natural reservoirs. Among permanent Andean lakes, the largest is Lake Titicaca, which lies at an elevation of some 12,500 feet (3,810 metres) between Peru and Bolivia.Piedmont lakes are found in Patagonia where, in the wake of melting glaciers, lakes formed downslope in natural basins. Among those are Lakes Buenos Aires, Argentino, and Nahuel Huapí.Bodies of water such as Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela and Dos Patos Lagoon in southern Brazil, both located on coasts, formed when longshore drifts sealed the exits to the sea.