The Teusacá River is a river in the Eastern Hills of Bogotá and on the

Bogotá savanna The Bogotá savanna is a montane savanna, located in the southwestern part of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the center of Colombia. The Bogotá savanna has an extent of and an average altitude of . The savanna is situated in the Eastern Ran ...

. It is a left tributary of the

Bogotá River The Bogotá River is a major river of the Cundinamarca department of Colombia. A right tributary of the Magdalena River, the Bogotá River crosses the region from the northeast to the southwest and passing along the western limits of Bogotá. The ...

, Colombia. The river of long originates at an elevation of at the Alto Los Tunjos, Santa Fe, and flows northward through the municipalities La Calera,

Guasca Guasca is a Colombian town and municipality in the Guavio Province, part of the Cundinamarca Department located approximately 55 km from Bogotá passing through the town of La Calera, Cundinamarca or 65 km passing through Sopó. Guas ...

Sopó Sopó is a municipality and town of Colombia in the department of Cundinamarca. The town is located 39 km north of the Colombian capital Bogotá. History The area of Sopó was inhabited first by indigenous groups during the Herrera Per ...

, to flow into the Bogotá River in

Cajicá Cajicá is a municipality and town of Colombia in the department of Cundinamarca, north of the capital Bogotá. It is located in the Central Savanna Province, being the third most populous municipality in the province after Zipaquirá and Chí ...

at an elevation of . The upper part of the Teusacá River basin has a páramo ecosystem with the páramos of Chingaza, El Verjón and Cruz Verde surrounding the river. The San Rafael Reservoir in La Calera, important water source for the Colombian capital, is sourced by the Teusacá River.

Etymology

Teusacá is derived from Muysccubun, the indigenous language of the

Muisca The Muisca (also called Chibcha) are an indigenous people and culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Colombia, that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish conquest. The people spoke Muysccubun, a language of the Chibchan langu ...

, who inhabited the

Altiplano Cundiboyacense The Altiplano Cundiboyacense () is a high plateau located in the Eastern Cordillera of the Colombian Andes covering parts of the departments of Cundinamarca and Boyacá. The altiplano corresponds to the ancient territory of the Muisca. The Alt ...

before the

Spanish conquest The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its predece ...

. Teusacá was the name of a settlement in the Muisca Confederation, possibly in the Teusacá basin between Guasca and Usaquén.Broadbent, 1974, p.123

Description

The long Teusacá River originates at an elevation of on the Alto Los Tunjos, El Verjón Páramo, in the locality Santa Fe in the Eastern Hills of Bogotá and flows northward to La Calera.Ecoforest, s.a., p.6Muñoz & Beltrán, 2010, p.56 In this municipality the San Rafael Reservoir, important water source of Bogotá, is located in the Teusacá River basin.Muñoz & Beltrán, 2010, p.40 The Teusacá River continues northward through

and flows to the northwest in

and

Tocancipá Tocancipá () is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Central Savanna Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca. Tocancipá is situated in the northern part of the Bogotá savanna, part of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the Eastern ...

. North of the urban centre of

, the Teusacá River flows into the

at an elevation of . Tiny parts of Chía and

Ubaque Ubaque is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Eastern Province of the department of Cundinamarca. Ubaque borders the municipalities Choachí in the north, Fómeque in the east, Cáqueza and Chipaque in the south and in the west is the ...

are part of the Teusacá River basin that has a total area of .Muñoz & Beltrán, 2010, p.39Muñoz & Beltrán, 2010, p.47 The precipitation in the basin varies from per year.Muñoz & Beltrán, 2010, p.53

Climate and vegetation

The maximum temperature ranges from and the minimum oscillates between .Muñoz & Beltrán, 2010, p.54 The maximum discharge has been registered in August, with and the minimum in March with .Muñoz & Beltrán, 2010, p.57 The vegetation ranges from páramo to Andean forests with characteristic species '' Illex kunthiana'', '' Myrcianthes leucoxyla'', '' Myrsine guianensis'', '' Miconia squamulosa'', '' Clethra fimbriata'', '' Arcythophylum muticum'', '' Baccharis rupicola'', '' Hydrocotyle bonplandii'', '' Hypericum thuyoides'', '' Paepalanthus columbiensis'', '' Cladonia clavatum'' and ''

Weinmannia tomentosa ''Weinmannia tomentosa'', the encenillo, is a tree native of the highlands of the Andes, Andean region of Colombia, which belongs to the family (biology), family Cunoniaceae. A synonym for ''Weinmannia tomentosa'' is ''Windmannia tomentosa''.

''.Muñoz & Beltrán, 2010, pp.59-61 The total number of bird species counted is 307, with other fauna as mammals, reptiles and amphibians registered.Muñoz & Beltrán, 2010, p.62 The

Chingaza National Natural Park Chingaza National Natural Park ( es, Parque Nacional Natural (PNN) Chingaza) is located in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes, northeast of Bogotá, Colombia in the departments of Cundinamarca and Meta. The elevation in the park, to the e ...

and Páramo de Cruz Verde are located to the east of the Teusacá River.Muñoz & Beltrán, 2010, p.75

Geology

The Teusacá River basin is located in a synclinal in the

Eastern Ranges The Eastern Ranges is an Australian rules football team in the NAB League, the Victorian statewide under-18s competition. The club is a founding member of the competition (1992) and has produced several players for the Australian Football Leag ...

of the Colombian Andes, with the Late Cretaceous

Guadalupe Group The Guadalupe Group ( es, Grupo Guadalupe, K2G, Ksg) is a geological group of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes. The group, a sequence of shales and sandstones, is subdivided into three formations; Arenisca Dur ...

, the

Upper Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', th ...

Paleocene The Paleocene, ( ) or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name is a combination of the Ancient Greek ''pal ...

Guaduas Guaduas () is a town in Colombia, in the Lower Magdalena Province department of Cundinamarca, about 117 km from Bogotá. It is an agricultural and tourist center of some importance with a population of about 41,000. Its name refers to a ...

, the Paleogene

Cacho Cacho may refer to: Dice Games * Cacho Alalay, a South American dice game popular in Bolivia * Dudo, a South American dice game popular in Chile, also known as Pico or Perudo Geology * Cacho Formation, a geological formation in the Colombian A ...

and

Bogotá Formation The Bogotá Formation ( es, Formación Bogotá, E1-2b, Tpb, Pgb) is a geological formation of the Eastern Hills and Bogotá savanna on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes. The predominantly shale and siltstone form ...

s, and younger unconformable Neogene formations present in the Teusacá synclinal.Muñoz & Beltrán, 2010, p.48Montoya & Reyes, 2005, p.52Montoya & Reyes, 2005, p.55Montoya & Reyes, 2005, p.57 The synclinal is bounded to the west by the Teusacá Fault, a north-south trending

thrust fault A thrust fault is a break in the Earth's crust, across which older rocks are pushed above younger rocks. Thrust geometry and nomenclature Reverse faults A thrust fault is a type of reverse fault that has a dip of 45 degrees or less. If ...

dipping to the east, thrusting the members of the older Guadalupe group on top of the Guaduas Formation.Montoya & Reyes, 2005, pp.78-79 In the Teusacá River basin, 25 quarries for carbon and construction materials are active.Muñoz & Beltrán, 2010, p.51

Gallery

File:Paragliding over Represa San Rafael.JPG, Paragliding over the San Rafael Reservoir File:Gran frailejon.jpg, The Páramo de Cruz Verde is in the Teusacá River basin File:Sendero a la Cruz.jpg, Sendero de la Cruz walking trail File:Rio Bogota map.png, Teusacá River flowing into the Bogotá River just north of the 2550 m mark

References

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

*
Sistema Hídrico, Bogotá
{{DEFAULTSORT:Teusaca River Rivers of Colombia Bogotá River Rivers Geography of Cundinamarca Department Geography of Bogotá Muysccubun