South America Physical Geography

Introduction:

South America Physical Geography, environmental and resources, and human geography
can be considered separately. South America is a continent of extremes. South America can be
divided into three physical regions: mountains and highlands, river basins, and coastal plains.
Mountains and coastal plains generally run in a north south direction, while highlands and river
basins generally run in an east-west direction. South America is a continent located in the
western hemisphere between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans the total land area is 17,461,112
km2 (6,741,770 sq.miles).The current population of South America is 431,697,023 as of
Tuesday, October 6,2020, based on the latest united nations estimates. The Amazon is well
known for a number of reasons. It is the greatest river of South America and the largest drainage
system in the world in terms of the volume of its flow and the area of its basin. South America’s
climate is dominated by relatively warm regions, yet the continent can be generally be grouped
into 4 zones, tropical, cold, dry, and temperate. Yet tropical, the region will have periods of dry
weather. Several major areas of South America will see rainfall well above 80 inches in a year.

Objectives:

 Explain characteristics of animals in South America.

 Improve their knowledge about the history of South America.
 Identify countries and important culture in South America.

Motivation:

The class is divided into two groups, each group has three representatives. The teacher
will play a song, and each stop of the song will be preceded by two students firing a balloon.
Each balloon has a question inside that must be answered. The first group that can answer two
correct answers is the winner.

Abstraction:

Animal life

South American animal life is particularly rich and well diversified as a result of the wide
range of habitats. Moreover, because of its isolation from the rest of the world
during Paleogene and Neogene times (about 66 to 2.6 million years ago), the South American
landmass is characterized by considerable biological originality. Many animals belong
to exclusive groups, and even at the family level the percentage of endemic forms is high.
Speciation has reached a higher degree in South America than in other parts of the world.
Nonetheless, there are some similarities between South America’s fauna and that of other
continents as a result of past geologic developments. Ancient groups of animals including
mollusks, chilopods, some fishes, reptiles, and amphibians show affinities with the animal life
of Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. More recent species, mostly vertebrates, migrated
from North America. Animals such as armadillos, anteaters, porcupines, and opossums migrated
in both directions.
Principal faunal types

Fish and bird life

Freshwater fishes are numerous, with about 2,700 species, though they derive from only a
few ancestral groups. Amazonian fishes may approach 1,500 species in number. Among the
dominant groups are characins (800 species), which include the flesh-eating piranha; gymnotids,
South American cyprinoids fishes that include the electric eel; catfishes; cyprinodonts, a large
family of small scaly-headed soft-finned fishes; and cichlids, a family consisting chiefly of fishes
that somewhat resemble sunfish.

Mammals
The range of mammals includes those that existed on the continent before its complete
isolation, such as marsupials (pouched animals) and sloths, those that migrated to the continent,
and those that migrated to and from South America. Smaller mammals such as monkeys and
rodents were among the first to migrate to South America. Later, tapirs, deer, bears, rabbits, and
many others arrived, as did the camel family, which gave rise to vicuñas, guanacos, alpacas, and
llamas some 6,000 years ago.
Amphibians and reptiles

Amphibians are well represented by caecilians (small wormlike, burrowing amphibians),

salamanders, toads, and a number of varieties of frogs, including clawed frogs, the most aquatic
of all. The tree frogs, arboreal amphibians, are particularly abundant through the Amazon basin
and are very different from their African and Asian counterparts, although the frog faunas of
Australia and South America often are strikingly alike. Reptiles include a great variety of turtles
and tortoises, crocodiles, caimans (endemic crocodilians), geckos, many iguanas, teiids (a family
of mostly tropical American lizards), Amphisbaena (a genus of harmless, limbless lizards), and
many snakes, including boas, anacondas, colubrids (a very large family of nonvenomous snakes),
coral snakes, and vipers.

Arthropods

Most South American insects, spiders, crabs, centipedes, and millipedes are found
nowhere else in the world. Thousands of species, especially insects of the tropical rainforest,
have yet to be classified. South America has the richest array of butterflies of any continent,
including the spectacularly coloured members of the Morphidae subfamily; the social insects—
termites, ants, wasps, and bees—also are well represented. Many of the best-known arthropods
(e.g., mosquitoes, sand flies, and kissing bugs) are responsible for the transmission of human
diseases such as dengue and malaria.

Ecological communities

Animal communities are distributed according to the pattern of vegetation zones, and

several well-defined groups can be distinguished. They include regions as diverse as the
Amazonian forests and the high Andes.

The Amazonian and Guianan forests

The most diverse community is found in the Amazonian and Guianan forests, where the
abundance of water and trees makes life easy. Rivers are the realm of large numbers of
invertebrates and fishes, such as pacu (Metynnis), a big brownish flat fish, the meat of which is
highly valued; coumarou (Curimato), which is a toothless vegetarian fish resembling the marine
mullet; electric eel (Electrophorus electricus); pirarucu (Arapaima gigas), which can attain a
length of 15 feet (4.5 metres) and a weight of 200 pounds (90 kg); and piranha, having teeth so
sharp that they can cut through flesh like a razor; as well as a wealth of small fishes, many of
which are vividly coloured. The manatees (a chiefly tropical, aquatic, herbivorous animal with a
broad tail) and the inia, a primitive dolphin, frequent the larger rivers of the region. The Amazon
river turtle (Podocnemis expansa) persists despite intense exploitation. Crocodiles and caimans
(called jacares in Brazil) inhabit the main waterways.

East-central plateaus and lowlands

The Brazilian Highlands have an impoverished animal life, from which species that are
strictly adapted to the dense forest are excluded. The plains of Uruguay and the Gran Chaco have
a varied animal life that includes some particular species, such as the maned wolf. The marshes
are inhabited by a wealth of waterfowl, as well as by a species of lungfish (Lepidosiren
paradoxa) that is related to its African and Australian counterparts.

The southern Chilean forests

The forests of southern Chile are inhabited by a specialized animal life, with a high percentage of
endemic species. Parakeets and hummingbirds are found as far south as Tierra del Fuego. A
marsupial, the rincolesta of Chiloé (Rhyncholestes raphanurus), is one of the most primitive
mammals still in existence.

The high Andes

The high Andes have an impoverished animal life. Species there have had to adapt to the
harsh and cold environment, scanty vegetation, and low oxygen pressure. The great number of
lakes in the region has attracted many aquatic birds, including flamingos, which nest up to
elevations of 16,000 feet (4,900 metres) in northern Chile, and amphibians such as the giant
toads of Lake Titicaca, which spend their entire life in water. Mammals are represented by the
guanaco and vicuña (both wild ruminants related to the domesticated llama), deer, and numerous
rodents, including viscachas, chinchillas, and guinea pigs. Predatory species include foxes,
pumas, the spectacled bear (the only bear species in South America), and many birds of prey,
notable among which is the Andean condor (Vultur gryphus), the giant of living birds, with a
wingspan of more than 10 feet (3 metres).

The arid west coast

The limited variety of animals that inhabit the arid coast of Peru and northern Chile is
especially striking when compared with the richness of offshore marine life. The cold upwelling
water of the Peru Current, rich in salts, are swarming with life, from plankton to fishes, including
the Peruvian anchovy (Engraulis ringens); those small forms of life provide food for higher
levels of the marine community, represented, for example, by sea lions and birds, many of which
are endemic to the area. Birdlife includes a penguin, many species of gulls and terns,
shearwaters, petrels, cormorants, pelicans, and boobies (a kind of gannet). Three kinds of those
birds—the guanay (or Peruvian cormorant; Phalacrocorax bougainvillii), the variegated booby
(Sula variegata), and the brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)—nest by the millions on small
islands off the coast, where their droppings accumulate to form guano, a highly prized fertilizer.

History of South America

The geologic history of South America can be summarized in three different

developmental stages, each corresponding to a major division of geologic time. The first
stage encompassed Precambrian time (about 4.6 billion to 541 million years ago) and was
characterized by a complex series of amalgamations and dispersals of stable blocks of
protocontinental crust called cratons. The second stage coincides with the Paleozoic Era (about
541 to 252 million years ago), during which time the cratons and material accreted to them
contributed to the formation first of the supercontinent Gondwana (or Gondwanaland) and then
of the even larger Pangea (Pangaea). The third stage, in which the present continental structure
emerged, occurred in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras (about the past 252 million years) and
includes the breakup of Pangea and Gondwana, the opening of the South Atlantic Ocean, and the
generation of the Andean cordillera.
The present tectonic framework of South America consists of three fundamental units:
the ancient cratons, the relatively recent Andean ranges, and a number of basins. Five cratons—
Amazonia, São Francisco, Luis Alves, Alto Paraguay, and Río de la Plata—represent the
Precambrian core of South America, and (with the exception of the Alto Paraguay craton) those
now appear as upwarped massifs arrayed from north to south in the immense eastern portion of
the continent; a number of other Precambrian crustal blocks also were accreted along the margins
of South America over geologic time. The lofty ranges and intermontane plateaus of the Andes
rise along the entire western margin of the continent and represent the collision in the Cenozoic
Era (about the past 66 million years) of the Pacific and South American plates brought about by
the opening of the South Atlantic. Finally, vast, downwarped, sediment-filled basins are found
between the cratons and along the entire eastern margin of the Andes.
South America is thought to have been first inhabited by humans when people were
crossing the Bering Land Bridge (now the Bering Strait) at least 15,000 years ago from the
territory that is present-day Russia. They migrated south through North America, and eventually
reached South America through the Isthmus of Panama. The Americas are thought to have been
first inhabited by people from eastern Asia who crossed the Bering Land Bridge to present-day
Alaska; the land separated and the continents are divided by the Bering Strait. Over the course of
millennia, three waves of migrants spread to all parts of the Americas. Genetic and linguistic
evidence has shown that the last wave of migrant peoples settled across the northern tier, and did
not reach South America.
The first evidence for the existence of agricultural practices in South America dates back
to circa 6500 BCE, when potatoes, chilies and beans began to be cultivated for food in
the Amazon Basin. Pottery evidence suggests that manioc, which remains a staple foodstuff
today, was being cultivated as early as 2000 BCE
South American cultures began domesticating llamas and alpacas in the highlands of
the Andes circa 3500 BCE. These animals were used for both transportation and meat; their fur
was shorn or collected to use to make clothing. Guinea pigs were also domesticated as a food
source at this time.
By 2000 BCE, many agrarian village communities had developed throughout the Andes
and the surrounding regions. Fishing became a widespread practice along the coast, with fish
being the primary source of food for those communities. Irrigation systems were also developed
at this time, which aided in the rise of agrarian societies. The food crops were quinoa, corn, lima
beans, common beans, peanuts, manioc, sweet potatoes, potatoes, oca and squashes.
[9]
 Cotton was also grown and was particularly important as the only major fiber crop.
Among the earliest permanent settlements, dated to 4700 BC is the Huaca Prieta site on
the coast of Peru, and at 3500 BC the Valdivia culture in Ecuador. Other groups also formed
permanent settlements. Among those groups were the Muisca or "Muysca," and the Tairona,
located in present-day Colombia. The Cañari of Ecuador, Quechua of Peru, and Aymara of
Bolivia were the three most important Native peoples who developed societies of sedentary
agriculture in South America. In the last two thousand years, there may have been contact with
the Polynesians who sailed to and from the continent across the South Pacific Ocean. The sweet
potato, which originated in South America, spread through some areas of the Pacific. There is no
genetic legacy of human contact.
Country in South America
South America is divided politically into 12 independent countries— Argentina, Bolivia,
Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela
—and the overseas department of French Guiana. The continent extends c.4,750 mi (7,640 km)
from Punta Gallinas, Colombia, in the north to Cape Horn, Chile, in the south. At its broadest
point, near where it is crossed by the equator, the continent extends c.3,300 mi (5,300 km) from
east to west. South America is connected to North America by the Isthmus of Panama; it is
washed on the N by the Caribbean Sea, on the E by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the W by the
Pacific Ocean.

Amazon Basin The Amazon Basin, in northern South America, is the largest in the world.
The Amazon River and all of its tributaries drain an area more than 7 million square kilometers
(about 3 million square miles). Structural basins are formed by tectonic activity. The Andes
The world's longest above-water mountain range is the Andes, about 7,000 km (4,300 mi) long. The
range stretches from north to south through seven countries in South America, along the west coast of the
continent: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. The Pacific and Atlantic
Oceans are the two largest oceans in the world and occupy a combined area of roughly
104,900,000 square miles. Many nations have a coastline on one of these oceans, but several
countries have coastlines on both. When considering whether a nation borders both oceans,
oceanographers consider the marginal seas, gulfs, and straits. Examples of countries that border
both the Atlantic and Pacific include Chile, Mexico, and Guatemala. The full list is provided
below. Aconcagua At nearly 7,000 m (23,000 ft), Aconcagua is the highest peak outside of
Asia. It is believed to have the highest death rate of any mountain in South America – around
three a year – which has earned it the nickname "Mountain of Death". The statistic shows the
largest countries in South America, based on land area. Brazil is the largest country by far, with
a total area of over 8.5 million square kilometers, followed by Argentina, with almost 2.8 million
square kilometers.
Cultural Geography

Historic Cultures
The historic cultures of South America developed in connection with distinct regional
landscapes. The three principal regions of early development were the Pacific coast, suited to
fishing and trading societies; the major rivers of the Amazon basin, with abundant water, plant,
and animal resources; and the Andes, where mountains provided security.

 Incan Empire is the most well known indigenous culture of South America. The Inca
Empire was established in 1438 in the Andean city of Cuzco, Peru. Over a period of 100 years,
the empire expanded to include parts of present-day Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, Argentina,
and Colombia.
The importation of African slaves represented a major shift in the cultural landscape of
South America. Most slaves were brought to Brazil. Their unique cultural practices
were integrated with indigenous Indian beliefs as well as European rituals. The religious practice
of Candomblé, for example, is a uniquely Afro-Brazilian cultural tradition. Candomblé is a
combination of traditional beliefs from the Yoruba, Fon, and Bantu cultures of Africa. Priests
and other followers of these religions interacted with one another in large Brazilian slave
communities. These faiths are polytheistic, meaning they honor many gods and goddesses. Slave
owners and church leaders put slaves under intense pressure to convert to Catholicism,
a monotheistic, or one-god, religion. Over time, the Candomblé faith incorporated parts of
Christianity, such as saints and the display of crucifixes.

Other historic cultures of South America developed with the physical, as well as
cultural, landscape. A distinct gaucho (or “cowboy”) culture developed in the Pampas, for
instance. In the mid-18th century, gauchos hunted herds of wild horses and cattle that roamed
freely on the extensive grasslands. They then sold their hides and tallow—waxy fat used in
making candles and soap—at a high price to European traders.

Much like the North American cowboy, the gaucho was praised as free-spirited, strong,
and honest. A popular culture of songs, stories, and films developed around the gaucho image.
Gaucho culture still persists, especially in Argentina and Uruguay, where gaucho dress, song,
and food are used to evoke national pride.

Application:

1. What is the largest river basin in the world?

2. What is the longest mountain range in South America?
3. Which countries border the Atlantic Ocean and also the Pacific Ocean?
4. What is the highest mountain in South America?
5. What is the largest country in South America?

Assessment:

1. Do you agree that South America is a region of great variety and many
contrasts?  Support your answer.  Consider the landforms, the climate regions, and the
natural resources. (10 pts)

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2. Name the twelve (12) independent countries in South America. (5 pts)

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3. What physical and cultural characteristics make the countries of South

America countries? (5 pts)
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References:

Britannica.com/place/south-america/geologic-history

Ag.missouristate.edu

Britannica.com/place/south-america/berians